Hyperdimension Neptunia: A New World
by TPYRO21
Summary: Imagine being pulled out of your mundane life and waking up in a different world. That has happened to a young man, not only that but he is also taken in by one of the world's leaders. Well, at least his life won't be so boring anymore.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fic so I hope you all enjoy it. It will be following the Rebirth 2 story and the first hand full of chapters will serve as a prelude to the game.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia, just my story and oc(s).**

It was a normal day in Gamindustri and Noire was at her desk doing work as usual. It was about mid-day and she suddenly hears footsteps getting closer to her door and moving at a fast rate. She had a bad feeling coming over her and before she can look over to the door it bursts open with a girl with short purple hair running through.

"Hey there Noire I came to see what Ms. lonely hart was doing and to make sure you were coming to the meeting later." It was who she thought, Neptune.

Noire quickly snaps back at the girl "Stop calling me that! Of course I'm coming but it doesn't start for four hours right?"

"Ya, but I thought that you would like to go get some pudding with me since I am the closest person you have to a friend." Neptune walks over to Noire and starts to poke her in the shoulder. "I'm not going to let you say no this time, I'll keep poking you till the horsebirds come home."

"Grrr, fine just stop touching me." Saying this Noire slaps Neptune's hand, stands up and marches out of her room.

"Uni I'm going out with Neptune, I'll be back after the meeting."

Uni pokes her head out of her room enough to see the two while saying "Okay, see you later sis, have a good time." After that the duo head out of the basilicom and down the street.

After grabbing their pudding, the two girls walk along the streets of Lastation. They were making small talk and Neptune of course poking some fun at Noire's expense until they came upon a body at the end of an alley way. It was what appeared to be a teenage boy, covered in bruises and small cuts.

"Wonder what happened to him." Noire mutters out loud to herself, Neptune walks over to where the boy was and grabs a stick out of nowhere and starts poking the boy with it. "I don't know Noire but I'm trying to see if he's still alive."

With an aggravated tone Noire quickly retorts "He probably needs medical attention not you poking him and making it worse!"

Neptune just casually replies with a ditsy grin on her face "probably, but that wouldn't be as fun." As she finishes her statement the boy starts to groan and opens his eyes about half way, they both look at the boy immediately but what the saw next shocked them both. The boy's body shot out electricity in all directions almost hitting Neptune, not just that his arm which was laying downward at his side was at his head without either one seeing it happen even though they never took their eyes off the body.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Noire quickly snaps "See that's why I told you to stop poking him Neptune!"

Neptune turned to look at Noire with a slight frown on her face and replied "Hey, aren't you concerned about me? I almost got hit by that. But I guess we should have Compa take a look at him. So let's grab him and go." Neptune throws the boy over her shoulder and the two make their way to Planeptune.

As the two get to the basilicom with the boy in tote Neptune yells out "I'm home!" Noire also announces her presence "Hey everyone."

Nepgear replies "Hey sis, hi Noire, I didn't expect you two for a few more hours."

"Ya, something happened and we decided to head back early Nep Jr."

As Nepgear walks into the living room she sees on more than usual "Who's that sis?" As her eyes peer over to the boy she sees that he had fair skin, short messy strawberry blonde hair, a black athletic t-shirt, red athletic shorts with a black stripe down each side, he also wore scarlet red shoes with black laces. Also she noticed how badly the shape of his body and clothes. "What the goodness?! What happened to him?" Neptune just keeps on with the grin that seems to be plastered to her face while Noire sighs at Neptune's lacking the ability to be serious in her human form.

"Well as Nowa and I were walking around we found him lying at the entrance of an ally way all hurt like this so I decided to poke him with a stick."

Noire scoffs "I told her not to do that but does she listen no."

Neptune quickly replies with "Since it was you talking of course I wasn't miss no friends." Neptune's goofy grin gets bigger while saying this.

"Stop saying things like that!" Noire snaps back while smacking Neptune on the back of the head.

"Oww! That hurt Nowa." Neptune stuck out her tongue at Noire. "Well Nep Jr. to get back to my answer, while I was poking him electricity exploded out of him and his arm practically teleported at the same time. So I thought it would be best to let Compa take a look and see if everything's ok. So if you could call her that would be nice Jr." Nepgear still kind of confused from the whole situation nodded and went to call Compa.

"What is with all the yelling I thought Neptune was out?" look it's everyone's favorite tome Histoire flying in on her book.

"Hi, Histy I'm back." Said Neptune with a smile

"Hello Neptune" Histoire said with a slight groan, there went her quiet time. "Hello Noire, I did not expect to see you here this early." Histoire eyes the boy now laying on the couch "Who is this?" with question marks floating around her head.

Nepgear comes in saying "Compa is on her way Neptune."

The short girl replies quickly "Thanks Jr. I'll explain everything to ya then Histy."

*One explanation later* "and that's everything." Neptune finishes with a smile. Histoire sighs "You're a CPU you should be helping people not poking them while they are hurt."

"Hey I helped him." Neptune quickly reported to the floating fairy.

"Yes but not until after you jabbed him with a stick." Noire pointed out.

A few moments later Compa walked into the room, Neptune was the first to notice "Hey Compa!" she yells while jumping into Compa

"Hi Nep-Nep" replies a happy Compa, she liked the how nice Nep was even though she did go overboard a few times.

"Can you believe it Compa Noire and Histy were saying that I was in the wrong while rescuing this fine lad."

Compa gives Nep a half smile while scratching the back of her head and says "Well Nep-Nep, Ge-Ge told me what happened and it's not good to poke someone when they have so many boo-boos."

"NOOOOO, et tu Compa." Neptune cries out while dramatically clutching her chest as if she was shot.

"She's right Nep." Walking in is none other than the wind walker of Gamindustri herself IF.

Histoire flying over "Hello to you both, Compa can you take a look at the young man, he is on the couch."

"Ok" Compa replies walking over to the couch. "Leave it to me Nep-Nep, I'll have him fixed in a jiffy."

"Ok Compa, do your best. Come on Noire lets go play games until Blanc and Vert get here." With that Neptune walks to her room with Noire in tow.

A couple of hours later Blanc and Vert show up for their meeting to figure out what they were going to do about ASIC. They had decided that the four of them and Nepgear would go to the Gamindustri graveyard in a month to deal with them.

The boy who was now moved into the guest room slowly opened his eyes to see a dark room with walls painted purple, pink trimmings and a lilac carpet. He saw two doors in the room, one to his left (guessing it led to the bathroom) and the other adjacent from the bed. There is a purple dresser with white drawers up against the right wall, a white night table to the right and left side of the bed, he himself was in a king size bed with purple blankets. 'Man, where am I? Well it looks like a girl's room and looks like someone patched me up.' He thinks to himself as he sits up and sees his shirt and pants on the night table. 'Might as well see what's going on and thank them for what they did.' He gets up, puts on his clothes and starts walking toward the door, opens it walks out and closes the door behind him. With the height of about 5ft 10in and blue eyes. What he saw next surprised him, he saw four girls huddled around a tv and it appears they are playing a video game of some sort, two girls walking in the room holding snacks, and another girl up against a wall talking on her phone.

Neptune being the first to notice jumps up yelling "He's up!" and jumps toward the guy who barely dodging the purple haired girl while she hits face first into the door. "Nepu! Oww." She cries out rubbing her head as she stands up.

Blanc and Vert look at him while Vert asks "Who's this?"

Noire turned toward them answering "We found him in Lastation unconscious and beat down pretty badly so we brought him here to let Compa fix him up."

Neptune jumping up and down with a large smile on her face "Hey how ya doin, what's your name, why were you knocked out…"

Noire shouts at the hyperactive girl "Neptune, shut up so he can answer one question at a time!"

The boy with a confused look on his face replies to the barrage of questions "M-my name is Desmond Sparks, but before I go any further I think I need some answers, and is she always like this?" pointing to the short purple hair girl in question.

Noire sighed saying "yes."

Neptune with a small frown responding "Hey I don't act like this all the time, just most of the time. Anyway we found you knocked out in an ally so we brought you back here." She pointed at Noire as she finished. "I'm Neptune, the ultimate protag of protagonists. That's Noire, Blanc, and Vert." pointing at each girl respectively. "And over there is my kid sister Nepgear, If, and Compa. She's the one who fixed ya up."

Desmond trying to retain the information he has just heard said "Well, hello everyone and thank you Compa for your help." He gives her a small smile then looked out the window and asked "Where am I?" not recognizing the landscape.

"You're in Planeptune silly." Nep remarks with a great big grin.

"Ya I don't know what or where that is."

"Oh, do you have amnesia? It wouldn't be the first time something like that has happened around here." Nep just looks at him getting closer to his face.

"No, I remember what happened before I was knocked out. I was going home from the store and had gone down an alley which I used periodically as a shortcut. While I was walking a few muggers jumped me out of nowhere, I was able to fight them off but in the end I started to black out and well I guess you know the rest. But it still doesn't explain why the I don't know why I'm in this Planeptune place." He pondered with a hand on his chin.

Right before Nep could say anything else they hear a voice from the other room getting louder "Neptune why are you yelling!?"

Desmond looks and sees the small girl flying on a book and he jumped up a half a foot in the air. "What is that?! Pointing at the tiny girl in question

Histoire surprised by the outburst jumps a little herself. "Hello I am Histoire, I am the oracle of Planeptune. It is nice to meet you?"

"Desmond, Desmond Sparks. I have to ask the question again and I hope I can get a clearer answer from you, but where am I? What is Planeptune?"

"Well it looks like you are not from around here. I'll explain where you are." Histoire said floating over toward Desmond.

*After explanation*

"Ok I think I understand now. You four are CPUs that each rule their own nation, to help protect your nations you all have a second form called HDD. All the nations except Leanbox has a CPU candidate. Shares help strengthen you, the four of you used to fight each other in the console war, but your now all friends. And a group has tried to come up against you all called ASIC and you four and Neptune's sister Nepgear are going to stop them next month. Did I leave anything else important out?" Desmond leans back on the couch after regurgitating the information he just heard.

Neptune gives him a bright smile and a thumbs up saying "That's about right Dez."

"Dez?" Desmond gave her a slight confused look.

"Ya well, Desmond is too long to say so I shortened it to Dez." Nep said while sitting next to him.

IF quickly buts in "She'll keep calling you that so don't even waste time trying to change her mind." Dez nodded.

"I've had other people call me that, so it's not uncommon. I just didn't expect a nickname so quickly." He replied.

Compa walks over smiling "You need to stay in bed till your completely healed okay Dez. I'll bring you some food later."

"Ok, probably should listen to the nurse. Well it's nice meeting all of you and I hope I can see you again soon." Dez said while standing up and started walking over to the door of the guest room.

Everyone else was saying Bye, nice to meet you, etc.

When Desmond got back into the room he moved over to the bed and got into it. 'Ugh, still sore, man today has been crazy. It'll be nice to get some rest, at least they all seem nice enough.' And with that he drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

A few days after Desmond arrived Compa declared him good enough to move around and about. As he walked out of the room it was still early and neither Neptune or Nepgear was awake. So he decided to go make breakfast, he made his way to the kitchen, got a few things together and got to work. He decided to make pancakes, bacon and eggs, simple but a classic. When he was almost done Nepgear walked in.

"Hi Desmond, I didn't expect to see you up so early." Nepgear said with a warm smile.

"Good morning Nepgear, ya I woke up a little earlier than usual so I decided to make breakfast." He said as he turned to look at her "I'm almost done so if you want to sit down I'll be done in a couple of minutes."

"Ok." She said as she took a seat at the table.

But before Gear could say anything else an explosion of noise came from nowhere and of course it was Nep.

"Hey Nep jr! What's for breakfast?" as Nep walked in she saw Desmond cooking she was a little bit surprised. "Hey Dez I didn't know you cooked."

"Ya, I started to learn when I was young. It was good to know for when my parents were out." Desmond replied.

"It smells great can't wait for it to be done." Nep cheered as she walked next to Desmond.

"and it's almost done so go ahead and sit, I'll bring you some in a moment. I'm also doing this as thanks for letting me stay here." He said to Nep as she walked to the table.

Neptune turned around and said "You don't have to do it as thanks, but I'm not going to tell you to stop."

"It's done." Dez called out as he turned off the stove.

"Whew, that was great, I'm stuffed." Neptune cheerfully said as she thru her arms behind her head to stretch.

"Yes that was good Desmond." Nepgear game him a bright smile.

"Thanks you two." He replied with a smile. 'Although Neptune at about 90% of it, even what I made in case IF and Compa came by.' He thought as he sweat dropped.

"Hey Dez, let's play a game." Nep quickly started to pull Desmond by his arm. Which left Nepgear to clean up.

"H-hey don't pull me, I haven't even agreed." Although he didn't necessarily like being pulled he wasn't go to argue with playing a game. "Okay, what do you want to play?" He asked with a neutral expression.

"Hmmmm… let's play this one." Pulling up a game case. "It's an exclusive from Lowee, it's one the plumber guy's racing games." Nep starts to put in the game and hands Dez a controller. "Here, your player two of course."

"Ok" He took the controller and thought 'This looks very similar to…'

"Hey! Dez! Pick your character!" Neptune shouted as she waved her hands at him causing him to stop his train of thought.

He ended up choosing the main character the plumber in red himself. Nep had already chosen a princess looking character and was now choosing a track to play on. She picked a track that was set in a desert, she set the game to just the two of them and no cpu players. Throughout the race they were both neck and neck, but half way through the final lap Neptune had used a star power to hit Desmond into of the track slowing him. Fortunately, he was able to get a triple boost to help him gain speed. As they were making their way to the final stretch of the track, Dez picked up an item as it was spinning Nep was a good thirty seconds to victory. Neptune inching closer to the finish line Dez threw the one item that infuriated anyone that ever played the game, the dreaded blue shell. After the explosion Dez flew pass Nep and secured the win.

"Nepuuuu, I call cheats, hacks, there's no way that you should have gotten that!" Nep shouted while pointing at the boy sitting next to her.

"Hey don't be a sore loser because the game decided that I should win." He rebutted with a smirk on his face.

"Rematch, I want a rematch now!" Nep yelled while getting close to the boy and poking his chest.

"Ok, ok, just stop poking me and sit down." He said with a slight sweat drop.

After about forty-five minutes later and they each won nine races each, Nepgear started watching after about the third race. The track they were on now was in space and had rainbow colors everywhere on the track and one could easily fall off it. Early on Nep nocked Desmond off the track and hit with a few items so he was playing catch up.

"Stop throwing those shells Dez! They're annoying and the game gives you too many!" Neptune cries out with a face of concentration stuck toward the screen while Dez pelted her with red shells over and over.

"But it's to fun to knock down an opponent, especially when I'm so close to taking the lead." Desmond pointed out with a smile across his face.

"I don't care… hey no don't do that… noooooo!" The purple headed CPU screamed as her avatar was knocked off the track by Dez while going around the final turn and thus Desmond won. "Nooooo!"

"Yes! Ha ha I win!" The boy said with a large smile looking at the girl next to him.

"You cheated again there is no way I would lose to you for ten times." The CPU pouted as she glared at him with angry eyes, after a couple of seconds she tried to jump him but he noticed just in time to dodge as Nep hit the floor behind him. "Oww" she rubbed her head as she was getting back up.

"Hey, be careful before you hurt someone. It shouldn't matter anyway just because you lost to me." He spoke with a slight chuckle in the last part of what he said.

"Hey Neptune you don't need to get all riled up, calm down." Nepgear said with a little worry in her voice.

"Fine" Neptune pouted with her arms crossed.

Suddenly the door opened and two figures walked in.

"Hi Compa, IF" Nepgear declared with a wave toward the two.

"Good morning Ge-Ge, Nep-Nep, Dez."

"Hello everyone."

"How are you doing Compa, Iffy?"

"What's up you two." Desmond said as he stood up and walked toward them. "Hey IF I wondering if you could show me where I could get some weapons around here? Since I appear to be stuck in this universe I might as well help out the best I can, it will also be thanks to you all for helping me and letting me stay here."

"Sure, just after I talk to Histoire for a few minutes." IF said as she made her way to the sharicite room.

IF and Desmond are walking through the Planeptune streets to a local weapons depot.

"How long have you known Neptune?" Desmond asked with his in pockets.

"Umm… lets see, it's been a while now, both Compa and I met both Nep and Gear in the outskirts of Planeptune. Compa and I were walking and out of nowhere something falls out of the tree in front of us, it was Nep of course, Gear came out from the side of the tree worried. Compa walked over to Nep and patched her up, after that we all became good friends." IF answered as she looked over at the boy.

"Ha, ya that sounds like something Neptune would do." He chuckled with a smile "You work for the guild right?"

"Yes I do, I often report to Histoire about the guilds activities." She said "Here's the place I'll pay for anything you need."

"Thanks." The boy replied.

The building looked sleek from the outside like the rest of the buildings in Planeptune covered in white and purple. The inside of the weapons shop had dark colors throughout it, mainly black, grey and silver. There were weapons everywhere, from CQC items such as knives and swords to long ranged items like guns, bows, and launchers.

"Wow! That's a big inventory they have here, I'm going to scan around before choosing the class of weapon I want." Dez said to IF with a glint in his eyes, to him he was like a kid in a candy store, just if the kid was older and the store dangerous items that could kill things.

"Ok, just don't take too long I want to check your skills on a quest later." IF called out to the boy as he started walking away from her.

"Ya, sure, I'll try not to take forever." He replied.

About fifty minutes later the two of them left the store. Desmond had gotten two beam sabers, even though he loves real swords he thought that it would be better for him to use something with less mass so he could move faster. He also saw a great assortment of both energy based and traditional based ammo guns, he ended up choosing a m1911 with extended mags. He walked away with a large grin on his face.

After going to the guild they IF picked up a simple quest to test the newbie's skills. They had made their way to the Virtual Forest to kill some dogoos. On the way over IF taught Dez how to summon and put away equipment. After walking in the forest for about ten minutes they came across the first dogoo.

"There's one, that's a dogoo now go and show me what you can do." IF commanded the boy.

He shook his head and walked forward and materialized one of his sabers and took a fencing like stance with his left arm behind his back as he closed in on the target. The dogoo took notice of him and charged toward him, Dez side stepped and did so a few more times before slapping the dogoo to the side as it charged him. He then lunged forward toward the gelled dog and stabbed it a few times before slicing it in half.

IF impressed that he seemed to know how to fight more then he let on started to walk toward him "Not bad, for a newbie." She said with a smug face.

"Hey come on, sure it was really weak and all but still." He retorted with a slight frown but a small chuckle as well. "All well, lets go find some more monsters to kill."

A little while later they came across four more dogoos and again Desmond walked out and materialized his beam saber, this time though he took a different stance. This time he stood feet shoulder length apart with his sword to his side. He darted toward the group of dogoos, as he came across the first one he sliced across it horizontally. Another one jumped at him, he then slid under it and stabbed the one now in front of him. After killing the second dogoo he then punched the one to his left and backstabbed the one behind him. As the dogoo that was punched came out of its daze it was being slashed with an X pattern by the boy.

"TO YOUR LEFT!" The boy shouted to IF as a dogoo appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Before he could turn he materialized his pistol and shot the enemy while it was flying toward IF in midair with three bullets.

All IF saw as she turned to look at the mass of gel only five feet from her as it was shot and turned into code and disappear. She looked at the only other person there as he finally turned to look at her as he dematerialized his gun. "H-how did y-you… hit it flawlessly three times without even looking?" IF asked with surprise.

"well… after years of sports and video games, I kind of have a sixth sense now and can usually notice a person or in this case monster nearby due to subtle changes near me. And as for hitting those shots, it's a little bit due to reflexes from video games to snap onto a target and years of shooting guns to stay accurate while firing at quick speeds." He replied as he walked toward IF.

"I admit that much was impressive, it looks like the quest is done so let's head back." She said while walking toward the exit of the dungeon and the boy followed suit.

"Ok, it feels good to work out a little." He said with his hands behind his head.

About ten minutes into their way back a giant dogoo popped up and started to slowly move toward them.

"Hey IF I might need a little help on this one, it looks a more challenging then the small ones. This should be fun." He said as a half-smile came across his face.

"Sure, I wasn't going to let you take care of it by yourself anyway." She replied while materializing her weapons.

"Ouch, do you not trust me Iffy?" He replied with a teasing tone as he laughed.

"Ya, ya, ya, whatever lets just kill it." She replied with a slightly unamused attitude.

"Ok, fine by me, let's go." Dez said as he brought both of his swords to his hands and dashed forward.

As the two ran toward the giant dogoo they went to the opposite sides of each other to attack, Dez noticed how fast IF was, as he approached the gel giant he sped up his attacks and added more ferocity into each slash. After about a minute of hacking at the monster IF called out to Desmond. "Back up for a moment!" he did as she commanded she then proceeded to shout "Demon Flames!" fire suddenly was all over the gelatinous mass and caused it to die and turn into a small ball of code and disappeared.

"Wow, that was a nice trick there. I didn't know you could use magic here." Dez said as he walked over to her.

"Ya, most of the CPU's use attack and supportive magic but humans can also use it. Also there is only so much one person can use due to how much SP one has. SP is kind of like one's inner energy that is used when someone uses a non-physical move." IF answered.

"Interesting." The boy said as he rubbed his chin taking in the information.

"Well, let's head back." IF called out to the boy as she walked away from him.

The two were walking back to the basilicom after turning in the quest at the guild. While they were walking IF noticed something.

"Hey, did you notice that your right eye is multi colored?" she asked while looking at him.

"Ya, it's blue and the bottom half is brown. It's been like that since I was little." He replied.

"By the way, where did you learn you to fight?" IF asked with an upraised eyebrow.

"My brothers and I used wooden swords and plastic sabers to fight each other. I learned some forms of swordplay through that and I also did some fencing in school. That's why I chose the beam sabers because they feel more natural in a fight since they are light weight so I can increase my speed during a battle." Dez said with a hand on his chin.

"Hmm, ok, but how do you learn so much by yourself though?" she replied.

"Well after a while of fighting I was able to follow a weapon instinctively and act accordingly, so that's what I do for defense. As for offense I have multiple forms of combat that I use which each have a different set of moves that I can use." The boy said back, he never really thought about how he fought, he more or less just did it.

"Ok, well at least I know you can handle yourself." She said as she turned her head from his direction.

"I had fun today we should go on some more quests sometime." He said with a smile.

"Sure, I go on quests often so whenever you want to join me just give me a shout." She said as they walked back into the basilicom.

When they walked into the residential part of the building they were met with a short purple haired girl. "Hey Iffy, Dez. How was your date?" The little CPU said with a wry smile and a teasing laugh.

"W-what are you saying Nep, we just went to do a quest." IF said slightly flustered while shooting a glare at Neptune.

Desmond walked over to Neptune and flicked her on the forehead "Don't say things that'll upset people Neptune."

"Oww." She rubbed her forehead "Fine." She said as she stuck her tongue out at the boy. "Dez, Histoire said that since your new here she wants me to show you the other nations in case you want to live somewhere else, so tomorrow we are going to Lowee." The purple hair CPU smiled and walked to her couch to play games.

"Ok, I look forward to it." Dez said. He had barely been outside of the basilicom much less Planeptune so he thought it would be fun. After eating dinner, he decided to head to bed a little early so he could be energized for the coming trip.

 **I'm trying to get to the actual storyline for rebirth 2, so the first few chapters might feel a little rushed. Or at least they do to me. But I still want to create a foundation for the oc with the other characters, for the fact that he will be around during the three-year absence of the CPUs.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, also feel free to review and let me know how I'm doing.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Desmond, you'll never beat me if you don't focus more on my sword to increase your reaction time toward it and with that your own speed." A voice called out to Desmond.

Desmond with his hands on his knees slowly looked up to see his older brother. Both were covered in sweat after a long fight. "Ya, ya. It's been a few days since my last fight so I need a warm up session. I'll win the next match." He replied with a smirk.

"Ha, I love your tenacity Desmond, it always insures a great fight. And the snarky little comments you bring as well." Desmond's brother retorted as he tossed a water bottle to Desmond.

"Ya, our fights are always fun aren't they." He said as he caught the bottle and gave his brother a large grin.

"!" Desmond sat up and looked around. "It was a dream." He sighed and looked at his clock, it was three in the morning. 'Ugh, I better get back to sleep.' He thought as he laid back down but couldn't fall asleep for about another hour.

* * *

"Wake up! Wake up!" Desmond groaned as he waved off the noise near him. Only to feel a sharp pain hitting his gut, as he opened his eyes he sees the perpetrator. It was the short purple haired CPU standing on his gut. "WAKE UP!" Her screaming causes the boy to flinch in pain.

As he shakes his head after the yelling he looks at the girls jumping off of him seeing that he is now awake. "What are you doing?!" he snapped at her "Jumping on me like that, you could have just pushed my shoulder till I woke up. It would have been less painful, and the yelling. Please not right into the ear I feel like it's going to be ringing all day."

"Well it's already 9:40 and we're supposed to be leaving in twenty minutes, so, GET UP!" Neptune yelled as she proceeded to stick her tongue at him.

"Oh crap, I did oversleep. Ok, get out so I can get ready." Dez said as he pushed Neptune out the door.

"Hey! There's no reason to push me! Fine just hurry up, we need to leave." Nep called out while going out of the room.

After Desmond emerged from his room ready to go. He headed over to the kitchen and quickly grabbed a bowl of cereal. After he finished eating he washed his bowl and quickly walked toward the door. He found Neptune waiting with her arms crossed.

"What took you so long, we're going to be late. If it ends up making Blanc mad then you're taking the hit." She said with a partly pouty face.

"I'm sure it'll be… wait Blanc will be waiting for us?" He replied with a questioned look on his face.

"Ya, she wanted to show you around since it'll be your first time in Lowee. Also it's always snowing in Lowee so we might need to get you a coat." Nep says as she walks toward the door.

"Ok, well we better hurry, we don't want her to wait for long." He replied as he follows the purple haired CPU out the door.

* * *

"Wow, there's snow absolutely everywhere." Desmond said with a happy cheer in his voice.

"Ya. Do you like the snow?" She asked Dez.

"I do, back in my world I lived in the northern part of my country, so during the winter the land was left covered in snow. I love the snow it's great and I like the cold so that's why I only got a jacket instead of a full blown coat." He said while looking around the nearby area.

"In that case." Nep whispered to herself with a sly smile. "HEY DEZ!" she called out.

When he turned around all he could see was a white ball in midflight only about a foot away from his face. "Oww, how tight did you pack the snow, or did you put ice in that thing, crap." He said while rubbing the side of his face "But, if it's a war you want it's a war you'll get." He called out as he picked up a snowball of his own and with a malicious grin the battle started.

About seven minutes later both were covered with snow, the battle was drawing to an end but there wasn't a clear winner. During the fight a stray snowball that Nep threw ends up not hitting Dez but someone in the background as they were walking up to the two of them. "Arghh" a voice called out and with it a deathly aura began to engulf the area, Nep noticed it almost immediately.

"Oh no, Dez we should stop now." Nep said with worry behind her voice.

"Why, are you afraid that you're going to lose." He said grinning.

"No, because of who's behind you." She replied.

That's when Desmond realized the aura and slowly turned around and saw Blanc with snow on her hat. Her bangs covered her most of her face so he couldn't really see her expression, but he could tell that the dangerous aura was coming from her. 'Oh crap' he thought 'A snowball must have hit her during the fight.'

"NEPTUNE!" Blanc yelled with fury. "What the hell are you two doing you're supposed to meet up with me downtown not here playing in the snow." She then materialized her hammer and proceeded to hit the ground to cause a mountainous amount of snow to bury the other two. The only noises the two could muster were a few grunts as they were encased by the snow.

* * *

About forty-five minutes later the three had finished the main tour of the place, Blanc started to take them to her basilicom. As Blanc walks through the door she warns "Watch out for the book."

"What book?" Desmond said with a confused look on his face. Then all of a sudden he sees a book flying toward him, thankfully for him he saw just in time for him to sidestep it. 'Oh that book.' He thought. But someone was not so lucky. A big thud and slight girly scream came from behind them. Desmond turned around to see Neptune laying on the ground and a book about a foot away from her. He walked over to her "Hey, you ok Neptune?"

"Ya, sure, just trying not to have a concussion here. It'd be nice if you could help me up here pal." Nep replied as Desmond grabbed her arm to pull her up. She stumbled from still being dazed "Hey, I demand to know who threw that!" Nep pouted as she shouted.

"Hahaha, I might have missed Blanc but at least I nailed Neptune right in the face. Hahaha." A girl in pink said while barely being able to stand from all the laughing.

"Ya, that was funny Ram." A girl in blue said while laughing a little.

After a couple of moments Ram noticed a person she had not seen before and marched over to Blanc. "Blanc, who's this?" she asked with a slightly annoyed tone.

"This is Desmond, he's from another world apparently and is now staying with Neptune in Planeptune. I was showing him around Lowee for today." Blanc said to her sisters. She then turned to Desmond "These two are my sisters, Rom and Ram." She pointed to the two respectively.

"Hello Rom, Ram. It's nice to meet you." Dez said as he walked up with a warm smile.

"H-hello Mr. Desmond." Rom replied quietly while slightly hiding behind Ram.

"Hmmm… Blanc are you sure we can trust him? He might be with those bad guy dummies." Ram said accusingly while staring at the boy.

"Yes, he somehow was transported to our world and Neptune found him. He has told me some stories from his world while showing him around Lowee so I know he's telling the truth." Blanc answered her sister in her usual tone.

"Ok, hi then Desmond, I hope we can be friends." Ram chimed.

"Yes friends." Rom seconded.

"Sure thing. I had a sister back in my world, so I know some games we could play." He said to the two candidates.

"You have a sister Dez, why didn't you tell me? Is she cute, how old is she…" Neptune jumped into the conversation.

"Wait, you said you had a sister what do you mean by that." Blanc asked with a slightly worried tone, the others stopped talking and looked at him.

He then looked at the ground with a saddened expression after realizing what he said earlier. "I-I'd rather not talk about it."

"Ok" Blanc decided not to push the question any further since she didn't know him too well.

"Hey can we stop with the serious talk, we're only a few chapters in and I wanna get back to playing something." Neptune said breaking the short silence. The others sweat dropped at the girl's words.

"Are you back Blanc?" a voice rang out as its owner came around the corner. "Hello, oh you are here too Neptune? I thought I heard another voice."

"Hi ho Mina, how ya doing?" Neptune shouted out while waving her hand.

Blanc ignored Neptune as she replied to Mina "Yes, I was gone for a short time. I would like you to meet someone Mina." She then pointed to the boy in the room "This is Desmond. he is new to this world so I was showing him around being his first time in Lowee." She then turned toward Dez "This is Mina. She is the oracle of Lowee."

The boy then turned to look at the lady and greeted her with a smile "Hi, nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you as well. I hope the twins haven't caused you any trouble, I know they can go overboard with their pranks." Mina replied.

"No, they're no trouble. I've been staying with Neptune so I'm used to the crazy antics." He said with a laugh as he looked over to the purple haired girl.

"Hey there buster! I'm not as bad as Ram here, she threw a book at me. I don't do that." Nep cried out with her hands on her hips and cheeks puffed out.

Desmond couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the girl trying to put on a mad front as he walked toward her and put his hand on her head. "I didn't say that you're bad or anything. I enjoy spending time with you it's fun." He said to Nep with a warm smile as he took away his hand.

Nep looked up at him and smiled "Ok, I'll forgive ya this time." She stuck her tongue out then turned around.

Ram took this chance to jump back into the conversation "Hey, can we play something now? It's boring just standing here talking."

Dez looked over at the candidates and replied to the one in pink "Sure, why don't we play… oh tag. We should head outside so we don't run into anything."

"Ya, that sounds fun. Let's go Rom." Ram said with a happy cheer.

"O-ok." Rom chimed with a smile.

As the three of them ran off Blanc turned to look at the other two in the room. "So you didn't know he had a sister Neptune?" she asked with slight concern in her voice.

"No. In fact he hasn't said anything about his family at all." Neptune answered with a hand on her chin. "Why do you ask?"

"It's because of the way he mentioned his sister. He said he had a sister instead of has a sister. I can only wonder if something happened." Blanc said with her face that looked like it was in deep thought.

"At least he seems to get along with Rom and Ram. Even if something happened in his past all we can do now is to help him enjoy his time in our world." Mina suggested.

"I guess you're right about that Mina, that sounds like the best way to go." Blanc replied as she smiled.

"Blanc! Let's go play some games or get some pudding. Anything besides just standing here." Neptune shouted out while flailing her arms.

Blanc could only look at the other CPU with a sweat drop. "You're just as bad as Ram." She said quietly as she shook her head. "Ok"

* * *

About an hour and a half later the two candidates and the boy went back inside for lunch. Afterwards Blanc gave Desmond a tour of the basilicom while Rom and Ram pulled Neptune away to play. The two finally got to Blanc's room as the tour was at its end, when they walked in he immediately noticed the mountains amounts of books on shelves all over the room.

"W-well, you like to read don't you?" Desmond asked with a sweat drop as he overlooked the mass of books.

"Yes, reading is good for the mind. It also is a great activity to do in a quiet space." Blanc replied as she walked toward one of the shelves. "Would you like to read something?"

"Sure, I like quiet time myself, it's peaceful." He answered

"Just choose something you think might be interesting." She told him with her usual monotone voice.

The boy walked over to a shelf and looked across the large amount of books. He finally picked one up and after reading the back cover all he could do was sweat drop, the title of it was "Space Wars". 'If this was in my world the writer probably would've been sued' he thought as he put the book back. Then he picked up a mystery novel and sat down in a chair across the room from Blanc who was already reading her book.

About two hours later the two were still reading. Blanc was on her second book while Desmond was still on his first. Blanc lowered her book and looked at the other sole person in the room. "How are you adjusting to our world?" she asked with a curious tone.

He put down his book and looked to the small CPU "I've been adjusting pretty well. Surprisingly this world works kind of like rpg games in my world. Histoire and IF have taught me a lot about the ins and outs of this place. But I will say that staying with Neptune causes a lot of noise, so this quiet is a nice change of pace." He admitted while he looked at her.

"That's good to hear. If you need some time away from the craziness that Neptune brings your welcome here. It'd be nice to have someone around who knows how to be quiet." She told him with a small but warm smile.

"I have a feeling that I'll probably take you up on that offer." He replied as he smiled back.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Neptune burst through the door as the twins followed suit.

"Blanc! Let's play something, or at least read to us." Ram shouted out as she came through the door.

"If you can't… can you read to us Mr. Desmond?" Rom asked shyly.

"Sorry gals, but we gotta go and get back to Planeptune before it gets too late." Nep jumped in before anyone else could say anything.

"What?! Come on we want him to read to us, why does you both have to leave now?" Ram cries out with an annoyed look.

"Yes… we want him to stay." Rom says quietly with puppy dog eyes at Neptune.

"Sorry you two, but we gotta get back so we can get ready to Lastation tomorrow." Neptune says aloud.

Desmond turns to look at Blanc who was getting close to her limit from all the noise as if imaginary tick marks appeared above her head. Realizing what would happen if the other three, well two, girls didn't quiet down got up and rushed toward the door as he grabbed Neptune "Ya, we're gonna go. See you girls some other time."

"Hey, you don't need to grab me." Nep started yelling while flailing her arms around.

"Be quiet, Blanc is about to blow." He whispered to her as Neptune looked behind to Blanc. She then turned back around and quickened her pace from being pushed to pulling the boy.

As the two got close to the door they could hear Blanc shouting at the twins to shut up. "Looks like we got out of there just in time. Nice job." Neptune looked at the boy behind her and gave him a thumbs up.

"Ya, Blanc can be pretty scary if pushed far enough. I'm just glad I noticed." He said with a sigh "Shall we head back?"

"Let's a go." Neptune said with her goofy grin. The two then made their way back to Planeptune.

* * *

The duo was walking through the streets of Planeptune. During their walk Neptune noticed a sweets shop "Ooo, let's get some pudding before we head in." she exclaimed while poking Desmond in the arm.

"No, we'll have dinner soon. You don't need to ruin your appetite." He told her knowing that she most likely wouldn't stop at just one.

"Come on, no it won't. I'll just have one, anyways I'm sure Compa expects me to get some pudding before I get back home." She rebutted.

"No, It's rude to Compa if you eat something right before you go to eat her food." He said back standing his ground.

"Just one please. I'll even share it with you." She said while giving him puppy dog eyes.

Felling his resolve dissolve while he felt her eyes pierce through him, he sighed "Fine just one."

"Yay!" she shouted as she jumped and clung to his arm.

"Hey! Don't jump on me so suddenly." He cried out while shaking his arm around that Neptune was on without making her budge in the slightest.

"Ok, next time I'll try not to jump on you like that. But I'm not letting go right now." She admitted while looking at him with a toothy grin.

All Desmond could do was sigh, knowing his struggle was fruitless he stopped. "Fine, but like I said only one pudding."

As the two walked into the store Neptune let go of Desmond, grabbed her pudding and paid for it. Dez was standing by the door as he waited for the purple haired CPU. When she was done she walked toward the boy and the two walked out.

"Here." Neptune called out as she handed the boy a spoon.

"You don't have too…" Dez said

"I said that I was going to share. Anyways pudding tastes better with other people." Neptune retorted with a cheerful look on her face.

"Ok" he took the spoon from Nep and proceeded to take a bite of pudding.

"Hey Dez." Neptune called out to the boy next to her with a serious look on her face.

"What?" he asked.

"I was wondering how you are doing. You know, in a new world. Away from your friends and family. I hope we haven't been too much of a bother to you." Neptune answered with a half questioned and half worried expression.

"I'm doing surprisingly fine. It was a shock at first, but having evidence all around me I got used to it rather fast. I do miss some of my friends, but we don't know how I could go back if I wanted to and I been making friends here at too. Also don't think you've been any bother at all, I was worried about imposing too much upon you and your sister." Desmond responded with a warm smile as he put his hand on top of her head.

She looked back at him with her usual grin "Thanks Dez, I was a little worried. But like I said eating pudding with someone else tastes better don't." She gave him a side hug while holding the rest of the pudding in her other hand.

He slightly sweat dropped at the latter half of her last statement, but couldn't deny them either. "Ya, why don't we get back home before it gets any latter."

Neptune shook her head as the two walked back.

About ten minutes later the duo was back at the basilicom, as they walked through the door the two were greeted by Histoire.

"Hello Neptune, Desmond. I hope you had a good time in Lowee." The small floating girl stated as she focused her look toward the sole male in the room "I hope Neptune didn't make things difficult on your trip. I know how Blanc can be sometimes with her around."

"No, everything was fine. Well except getting buried by snow when we first got there by Blanc, but it wasn't too bad." He said as he waved his hand to try to get rid of any concern the little tome might have.

"Good. I understand that you two will go to Lastation tomorrow right?" The oracle asked.

"Yep that's right. We're going to see how miss lonely heart is doing." Neptune responded with her usual bright grin. Histoire just sighed at Neptune's comment as she floated away.

Nepgear walked into the room from the kitchen and bore a smile on her face "Hey you two. Welcome back. Dinner will be ready soon." She then walked back to the kitchen.

"Let's go see what's for dinner." Neptune said while look at the boy.

He shook his head "Ya, I'm starving. That pudding wasn't much."

The two walked into the kitchen to see Compa cooking and Nepgear setting up the table. Compa made fried chicken and corn on the cob for dinner. Which was much to Desmond's delight as he scarfed down his meal. Afterwards he wished everyone good night and headed to his room for the night as he looked forward to seeing another new land the next day.

* * *

 **Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to leave a review and let me know how I'm doing, have a good day.**


	4. Chapter 4

Desmond opened his eyes as the sun's rays bore its everlasting light onto them. He sat up while holding a hand between his face and the sun. Looking over at the clock it was a few minutes before eight in the morning 'At least I woke up on time today' he thought as he stood and got himself ready for the day. He went out of his room and into the kitchen to get some breakfast.

"Hi Desmond."

A voice called out, he looked to see Nepgear in an apron cooking. "Hey, what are you making?"

"French toast." She replied

"Ok, do you need any help." He asked as he walked up beside her.

"No, you can get a plate and get as much as you want. I'm still making a few more for Neptune." Nepgear responded.

"Speaking of Neptune where is she at? She's usually spouting out all kinds of noise by now." He said as he got some food and sat at the table.

"She's in her room still sleeping. She was talking to Noire late last night about your visit, but after a while they apparently got off topic and stayed up to late." Answered Nepgear as she finished up her cooking.

"Ok, as long as she wakes up in time." He remarked as he took a bite of his food.

Nepgear grabbed some food and sat across the table from the young man. "What is your world like?"

He looked at her for a moment and then thought on where to start. "Well, there are no monsters for a start. There are wars between different countries every now and then. Most of the large cities have people everywhere that you look like it is here. There are many countries on multiple continents. The game systems here also look very similar to my worlds systems, even several of the games are almost carbon copies. It is interesting… this world, since I've been here I have felt… lighter, like the gravity here is less than my own world. I wonder if there are new types of elements I could find here, and if so what could be made with them." He started to trail off as he went deep in thought.

"Umm, Desmond… Desmond." Nepgear called out to the young man.

'!' "Oh, sorry. I kind of got off track there, I like science a lot so I'm kinda curious what is the same and different between our worlds. Now what were we…" He responded with an apologetic look.

"GOOOOOD MORNING!" The blood curdling screech caused Desmond to stop talking as he looked to the entrance of the kitchen to see Neptune walking in. "How are you two this fine mornin', sorry for being late to the party but a girl has to get her beauty sleep ya know." She had her normal goofy grin as she walked toward Desmond. "Good to see that you're awake this morning Dez, this time I don't have to kick you up."

"Good morning to you as well Neptune." Was all he could get out as he was still trying to get his ears to stop ringing.

"Hey, sis. There is some food over there for you." Nepgear told her with a bright smile.

"Thanks Nep Jr." She replied as she went to get her food.

* * *

"Have a good time you two." Nepgear called out a waved to Neptune and Desmond as they left the basilicom.

"Bye" the two said in unison.

As the two walked outside Neptune turned to look at Desmond and said "Noire will be waiting at her basilicom and we'll meet with her after I show you around. Let's hurry, we don't want to keep Noire waiting for too long. She gets lonely." She started to run off while laughing and Desmond followed suit.

The two quickly traversed through the streets of Planeptune to a transportation station and it was off to Lastation. As the two arrived they found Noire waiting for them.

"Hiya Noire, why are ya here? Were you so lonely that you just had to see us arrive, or are you just here to see Dez?" Neptune exclaimed with a teasing tone.

"W-what are you saying Neptune, you said that you were going to show him my nation so I wanted to make sure you didn't mess it up. That's why and not because I was happy that you were coming or anything." Noire said with her tsundere attitude and a slight blush toward the latter part of Neptune's comment.

'The tsundere is strong with this one.' Dez thought as Noire finished her little spiel. "Well it's nice to see you again Noire." He called out to her which broke her concentration toward Neptune.

"It's nice to see you too Desmond, I just hope that Neptune hasn't been driving you crazy. I don't get how a normal human could withstand her insanity." Noire asked with a small smile.

"Na, don't worry I'm used to most of her antics already." He said with a slight chuckle.

"Well let's get a move on and show him around." Neptune jumped in between the two to rush them on.

"Ok, fine let's go." Noire said while walking off and the other two followed.

The trio moved through the city as Noire pointed out important buildings, landmarks, and streets to Desmond. After some time, they made their way to the basilicom.

"So, what do you think about my nation?" Noire asked outside the basilicom doors.

"Well, it looks cool with the whole steampunk look, it also has a lot of industrial factories so it probably gains a good amount of money from sales, but also increases the pollution in the area. There is a large variety of shops that one can choose from which is nice for residents. It kind of reminds me of large cites back in my world, just minus the steampunk." Desmond responded with a hand on his chin.

"Well, as long as you see that it's the best out of the four nations." Noire said with a smug grin.

"It doesn't matter if your city is good or not when you don't have any friends." Neptune teased with a chipper smile.

"H-hey shut up Neptune, I don't want to hear it from the CPU with the lowest amount of shares." Noire huffed while turning around and crossing her arms then walked into the building.

"Hey Kei, I'm back." Noire called out with a small wave.

"Hello Noire." Kei responded. "Back already."

"Yes, I just left to show him around." Noire said while pointing to the body behind her. "Kei, this is Desmond. Desmond, Kei. Kei is our oracle."

"It's nice to meet you." Desmond commented.

"The pleasure is all mine. Noire who is he exactly?" Kei asked with her neutral expression.

"Neptune and I found him unconscious here in Lastation. Apparently, he dropped in from another world and is now staying with Neptune." Noire answered with her arms crossed. "Where is Uni?"

"She just left to go on a few quests. She said she'll be gone for a while." Kei responded.

"Ok, then I guess you'll have to meet her some other time Desmond." Noire announced.

"Ya, ya that's good and all but let's go do something fun." Neptune finally spoke up as she was getting bored.

"Sure, lunch is in about half an hour but we can play games till then." Noire said. The three of them walked to the living room where a large t.v. and a game system hooked up to it.

Desmond saw the console and was starting to piece together why things seemed so familiar, even down to the names of the nations besides Planeptune. He realized that the nations in this world were based on game consoles from his world, but did not intend to bring the point up in conversation as he did not see it important for the people here. But still pondered on why it was like this.

After a few hours of gaming, eating, and gaming again Neptune got a call.

"Hello." Neptune answered the phone.

"Sis, you need to get back here there is a large group of monsters heading toward the city." Nepgear yelled through the phone.

"What?! Well don't worry Nep Jr. I'll be there in no time." Neptune responded in her usual goofy tone as she hung up the phone, then turned to the other two. "Well Planeptune is being attacked so I'm gonna head on back."

"Hey, let me come with. I've been wanting to fight some monsters; it'll be a good workout." Desmond called out as he stood up.

"Ok" Neptune said with a nod, she then looked toward Noire "Do you want to join up or are you gonna stay here all by your lonesome?"

"Ya, I'll go with you and don't call me lonely." Noire said with a half unamused look on her face.

"How are we going to get there in time though? The transit systems would take to long." Desmond states as he looked at Neptune.

"We'll fly." Neptune remarks as she transformed and noire followed suit.

"Oh, ya, forgot about the transformation stuff and you two look great. But what about me." He asked

"It's simple, I'll carry you." Purple Heart replies

"Huh… and how exactly are you gonna…" Dez starts as Neptune grabs him and starts flying toward Planeptune.

"Like that. Just try not to fall, ok." She said with a small laugh.

About 30-45 minutes later the trio found the large hoard rampaging the outskirts of the city and quickly closing in on the citizens. There was a large tank leading the charge, with it were some R-4, Bit, and Pixelvader monsters scattered all around it.

"Oooo, this looks fun, let's get down there and fight already." Desmond called out to Purple Heart still in mid-flight.

"Ok, but you are not fighting the tank, it's too strong and your still rather new to fighting." Purple Heart told him as they landed.

"Fine" He responded with a sigh, "at least I get to do some monster slayin'." He ran toward the mass of trash mobs as he materialized his sword hacking and slashing while dodging attacks.

The other two fought to get to the tank that was wrecking the country side and few structures that lead up to the city. About seven minutes later they got to the tank and commenced their attack, the duo flew around the enemy attacking it as they dodged its cannon blasts, slowly bringing its health down.

"It's not much but at least there is enough of them to give me a workout." Desmond said as he sliced through another enemy. Most of the mobs were taken out so he looked over at the two girls to see them about to finish off the tank when he noticed a R-4 bot sneaking up on them. "Behind you!" he called out as he put out his left arm to materialize his gun, but something else happened. Instead of his gun appearing electricity flew out from his hand and destroyed the bot.

The two CPUs looked at him with slight shock "Did he…" Purple Heart started, "It's like when we found him." Black Heart stated "Doesn't matter right now, we have to take this out first."

Desmond looked down at his arm he saw something that the other two didn't, he saw his arm practically phase out of existence as it turned into the electricity that destroyed the bot. He then tried to find the cause of this strange phenomenon, he focused on himself and found an anomaly within him. The more he focused on it the more profound it became, to the point where he tried to focus it to specific point. So, he held out his left arm and another bolt of electricity shot out hitting a tree. 'How interesting, this shouldn't be possible. But this world _is_ different, I shouldn't try to confine it to the laws of my world, including me.' Desmond thought as he looked over at the CPUs as they finished off the tank.

"That appears to be the last of them." Black Heart said as the both floated down toward Dez. "The question is why did a large group like this converge and attack the outskirts of your city."

"I'm sure ASIC had something to do with it, but…" Purple Heart replied as she reverted herself back to normal, bouncing in Desmond's face "What is with the lightning Dez, that was awesome, how did you do that."

"We saw something like that happen when we first found you, Neptune almost got hit." Noire said after transforming back to her human form.

"I don't know, nothing like that could happen in my world. But after the first shot I noticed some kind of power within me, and when I concentrated it to a single point electricity shot out and hit the tree." Desmond answered as he crossed his arms. "Well it looks like everything around here is taken care of. We probably should head home." He said as he looked toward Neptune.

"Ya, let's go and leave the loner to her loneliness." Neptune said with a chipper tone and smile.

"I'm not lonely Neptune, I have friends!" Noire yelled

"Do ya, what's their name? Is it your sister? Because sisters don't count." Neptune teased.

"I'll be her friend." Desmond said as he walked over to Noire, placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile "and now Neptune won't be able to tease you about not having friends." 'I doubt she'll stop though.' He thought to himself. He turned toward Neptune "Let's go home Neptune, Noire sense you're here already come and have dinner with us." He removed his hand and started the walk back.

"W-why would I go with you two?" Noire said in her tsundere fashion.

"Like Dez said, your already here so come on. Or are you going to reject his friendship and continue to be a loner.

"O-ok, but it's not because I want to, it's because you begged me." Noire huffed.

* * *

"Hey we're back!" Neptune calls out "We also brought Noire with us."

"Hey everyone. I'm almost done with dinner so I'll be there in a minute." Nepgear responded.

"Hey Gear, where's Compa and IF?" Desmond yelled out.

"IF is working, and Compa is staying late for her nursing school." Nepgear said as she walked around the corner into the living room.

"Ok. What did you make for dinner?" Dez asked

"Spaghetti and meatballs." She answered back

"Well, I'm starvin' so let's eat." Neptune said.

Neptune grabbed Desmond and pulled him into the kitchen almost causing him to fall from the sudden jolt as Noire rushed after them.

After dinner was done Nepgear was cleaning up, Neptune was playing video games so Desmond went to see Noire off.

"Hope to see you again, it was nice even with Neptune's acts of randomness." Desmond said as he opened the door.

"Yes it was and she can get out of hand, I feel sorry for you." Noire said as she made her way to the doorway.

"Don't worry about me. I'd rather her be like this, she's fun to be around and makes things interesting, so it's all good." He replied with a smile.

"Ok, if you say so." Noire said as she started to walk out, but turned back "D-Desmond, t-thanks for calling me your friend and if you ever need to get away from Neptune you can stop by." She said quietly and slightly flustered.

"Ok, I'll try to stop by at some point. Well see ya." He said with a warm smile and a wave.

"Bye." She replied as she walked away.

Desmond closed the door and walked back toward his room as he was stopped by Neptune. "Hey, where are you going? It's not that late, play some games with me come on." She called out as she placed a controller on the seat next to her.

"Ok, that's two nations down, one to go. It's Leanbox right?" He questioned after he sat down.

"Yep, but let's not focus on that right now we've got games to play." She declared while throwing a fist into the air.

"Ok, but I won't lose to you." He said while giving her a slight push.

"Oh ya, bring it on." She rebutted before sticking her tongue out at him.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading another chapter for my story, I hope you enjoyed it. Send a review and tell me what you thought. Have a good day.**


	5. Chapter 5

The rays of light pierce through the window and strike the young man's face as he stirred as he slowly awoke. 'Ugh, why does the sun have to be so bright. W-what is that, is something on me.' He thought before he opened his eyes to see Neptune as Purple Heart with a large portion of cleavage a bit close to his face for comfort. "W-w-what the heck are you doing Neptune?!" he blurted out a bit flustered.

"Well, since we are going to see Vert, I don't know what she might try to pull so consider it as training." She replied before transforming back and jumping off the bed.

"Ugh, just don't startle me like that." He said as he sat up. 'Vert, Vert who was th- oh ya. She was well endowed, I guess I can see where she's coming from.' He thought before turning to the girl next to him "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No not yet, but we can get some cereal and get a move on." She said before she exited the room.

"Ok" Desmond said before getting up and getting ready.

* * *

The two make it to Leanbox and shortly after leaving the boat Neptune waves at a person in the distance. "Hey Chika how ya doin'?" Neptune asked.

"H-hi, Vert is busy so she sent me to give the tour." Chika responded

"Dez, this is Chika, Leanbox's oracle." Neptune stated with her arms thrown wide at Chika as if she was presenting a prize.

"Nice to meet you." Desmond said.

"Thank you, let's start the tour shall we." Chika said then turned around and started walking.

*after the tour*

The three walk through the door way of the basilicom.

"Vert should be with you shortly." Chika told the two of them, her eye twitched slightly at the thought that Vert is giving the time of day to someone other than her and a boy none the less.

"Who knows how long she'll take, I know where her room is. Let's go Dez." Neptune stated as she grabbed Desmond and pulled him along.

"H-hey, Neptune careful." Desmond said struggling to stay on his feet for the first few seconds.

*a few minutes later*

"Hey Vert, We're here!" Neptune shouted after blasting the door open.

"Hello you two. I'm still a little busy with something, I'll be done in a few minutes." Vert replied mostly focused on her game.

"See told ya she'd take forever." Neptune gloated with a small chuckle.

Desmond ignored what she said and walked over to where Vert was. "What game is this?" he questioned

"Oh" she took a quick glance behind her to see Desmond. "This is 4 Goddesses Online, a MMORPG. If you would like I can show you how to play later. But right now, I am trying to finish a raid, it shouldn't take longer than a minute or two."

"Hmm, I might take you up on that offer." Desmond replied, he started walking back to Neptune until he finally saw what was in Vert's room. All the figures, manga, games, and something else, certain pictures. He shuttered a little when he saw them but quickly put focus back on Neptune. "So, Vert appears to be quite the hefty gamer." He said to Neptune.

"Yep, she plays games all the time." She responded.

"Now that I am done how are you two?" Vert said.

"I'm good." Nep said with a smile and a small wave.

"I'm good as well. oomph…" Desmond said, as soon as he turned to face her she pulled him down right into her chest.

"Desmond, how about you stay here with me. The other CPUs have their sisters but I have no one and I get lonely sometimes." Vert said close to his ear while keeping his head trapped.

"Nepu, see Dez I was right about Vert doing something. Vert leave him alone he's staying with me. Anyways you have Chika if you feel lonely." Neptune called out while trying to pry Desmond out of Verts clutches.

"He doesn't have to stay with you, Histoire told me that he is visiting the other lands in case he wants to live elsewhere." Vert rebutted.

After about a minute and a half Neptune finally pulled Desmond out, his face red both from lack of air and a blush. It took about another minute for Desmond to put himself back together.

"If you would kindly refrain from doing that again Vert, is there something prepared for us to do?" Desmond asked after taking a step back from Vert.

"Yes, there is a concert being performed later today by Leanbox's very own idol 5pb. But until then we can sit here and play games to our hearts content." Vert expressed happily with both hands together.

"Ya, let's play some games!" Neptune yelled out launching herself down in front of the t.v. she then turned to look at Desmond and patted the spot next to her.

"That sounds fun." He said looking at Vert, then turned toward Neptune and sat next to her. "What do you want to play?"

* * *

Sometime later the three left Verts room, ate dinner and left for the concert at an outdoor venue.

"Wow, there's a lot of people here." Desmond said while looking at the mass.

"Yes, many show up to see 5bp perform from all four of the nations." Vert answered.

"Ya, sometimes I see posters for her concerts around Planeptune." Neptune stated.

Desmond spots someone walking onto the stage. "It looks like it's starting soon." Desmond pointed out.

He could see a girl with blue hair standing at the front of the stage as the crowd erupts, she starts waving at the crowd with her left hand, with a mic in her right. "Hello, everyone. Thanks for coming out this evening, we've got a great show for you all so I hope you enjoy it." She then pointed off stage to someone, a few seconds later the music started up and the show began.

A few hours later, shortly after the concert Vert invited Desmond and Neptune backstage. Vert opened the door to a room and approached a woman with red hair. "Hello, Cave. How are you tonight? Where is 5pb at?" Vert asked.

"I'm doing well, thank you for asking lady Vert and she is in the next room." She turned around "Hey, you have visitors."

"Desmond, I would like you to meet Cave, she works for Leanbox's Special Mission Department." Vert said while gesturing toward Cave.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Cave said extending her arm.

Desmond shook her hand "Likewise."

"Who is here Cave?" 5pb walked in from the adjacent room. "Oh, hello lady Vert. L-lady Neptune, I-I haven't seen you in a while. Who is t-that?" she said while partly hiding behind Cave and pointing at the lone man in the room.

Vert pulls Desmond forward "This is Desmond, he is new to this world so we are showing him around." She answers with a smile.

"Hello, 5pb right, it's nice to meet you. It was a great show you put on, back from where I'm from we don't have idols like you, or at least not in my country, so it was a nice experience." He said with a warm smile "You ok?" he asked as he saw her hide behind Cave.

"Don't worry about her she's just shy." Cave explained.

'She's an idol but she's shy… is it a split personality thing, or maybe she's just better in front of a group of people. Oh well.' He thought "Anyway, I hope we can meet again and you have a wonderful voice."

5pb peered to the sided of Cave "R-really, thanks. Where are you from?" She asked with a curious look.

"Well, there's no monsters, no powers. Most people go to school, get jobs in the field they want and grow old. There are multiple nations throughout the planet, and I don't want to take up too much time right now. So, if you want to know more we can talk some other time." He replied and she responded with a slight nod.

After that the group talked for a while then Vert, Neptune, and Desmond left and went back to Vert's basilicom. The trio played games for about another hour before Neptune stood up. "Come on Dez it's time to get back home." When she turned around to look at Dez all she could see was that he was being pulled down into the mountainous zone that is Verts chest.

"I don't think so, I believe Desmond is staying with me, Neptune." Vert stated with a smug smile.

"Hey! Stop that Vert!" that was all that Neptune said as she tried to pry Desmond away.

The only thing that he thought was "Not again" and well "boobs", but can you blame him.

After the scuffle, Neptune grabbed Desmond, transformed and started to make way back to Planeptune. The duo made it back to the basilicom with no problems and walked through the door to be met by Nepgear "How was your day?"

"Hey Nep Jr. today was pretty good, except for when Vert tried to keep Desmond, the same way she tries to steal you away." Neptune stated with her normal happy go lucky attitude.

"Oh my goodness, you ok Desmond?" Nepgear asked with a little worry in her voice.

"Ya, ya I'm fine don't worry." He replied with a hand scratching the back of his head, trying to ignore the fact that apparently, Vert does that to Nepgear.

The rest of the night went by smoothly. They played some more games, talked for a little bit and then went to bed.

* * *

 **I hope you all liked this chapter. There is one more chapter that I had pre written, after that chapters will come out over longer periods of time. School takes a lot of time. Leave a review and let me know how I'm doing, and as always have a good day.**


	6. Chapter 6

It was a about an hour past midday, the only noise piercing the quiet basilicom was Histoire yelling at Neptune for not getting anything done. After about forty-five minutes of lecture later, Neptune was barely awake. Desmond walked up and patted Histoire on the head with his index finger saying that he had an idea. "Hey, Neptune!" the yell brought her attention toward him "Let's play a game and if I win you have to work." He said with his arms crossed.

She jumped up "You're on mister. What happens if I win?" she exclaimed with a finger pointed at the man.

He pondered for a few seconds with his finger on his chin "I'll do one thing of your choosing."

"Oooo, now things are getting interesting. I'll have to think about what I want you to do later let's go!" she shouted while running toward the living room.

About half an hour later the game was over and Neptune was laying on the ground grieving over her defeat. "Come on Neptune, let's get a move on." Desmond stated while pulling her out the door.

"NOOOOO! You cheated I know you did. I want a rematch, there's no way you could have beaten me. Nu uh, no way no how." She cried out trying to deny everything that just transpired.

"Too bad, no rematches and of course I didn't cheat, you use the same moves over and over. It's easy to figure out your attacks." He deadpanned as Neptune finally started to leave the room out of her own will. He quickly flashed a thumbs up to Histoire who was watching the match, she let out a small smile as the two left.

After the two got several quests from the guild they set out for the dungeon fields. "Sooo, what do we got first?" Neptune asked as they walked.

"Well, I'd rather get the tougher quest done first, so let's take out the giant dogoos and the tank." He responded while looking through the quests.

"Okay, let's gooooo!" Neptune yelled as she sprinted away.

"H-hey, wait for me." Desmond said following her.

After a couple hours of searching and fighting they had completed the giant dogoo quest, and a couple small ones along the way. Now they were looking for the tank and after some time they found it.

"Ok, I'll draw its attention with my gun while you flank and strike it from its side. Then I'll come in for close range combat with you. Got it?" Desmond asks looking at Neptune.

"Yep, crystal." She replied and then ran off to get in position.

Desmond materialized his gun and blade. He then started to shoot at the tank drawing it's agro to him. Neptune rushed toward it and slashed it with multiple attacks before jumping back as the tank turned its attention toward her. Desmond brought out his other sword and bolted toward the tank attacking and slicing off one of the cannons on top of it. The tank released a barrage of attacks toward Desmond, a few hit near him knocking him back. He quickly stood back up to see Neptune taking a few swipes at the tank, after she backed away from it he brought a surge of energy forward and shot it at the tank electrocuting it. Both Desmond and Neptune rushed the paralyzed tank and defeated it.

Neptune ran over to Desmond "Hey, you ok?" she asked with slight concern in her voice.

"Ya, I good." He responded while rotating is right arm.

"Ok, good. Any way it looks like you're getting better with your zappy ability." She said in a cheerful tone.

"Ya, I am. But zappy ability is not a good name for it. It's more of a electrokinesis type of power, using my mind to manipulate the electrical potential energy within the air and my body to..." he started

"Pfffft." Neptune blew a raspberry into her hand stopping Desmond "Hey! Too much complicated talk for me, no more mister." She quickly got out.

"Oh, ya, sorry. I kind of got carried away there, talking about how my powers work would probably suit Nepgear better." He said wile scratching the back of his head.

"Now that we're done with that, are there any quests for us left?" she asked

"No, we're done. Good thing too, it looks like it's getting late." He responded while looking at the list.

The two went back to turn in the quests, then walked around the streets of the city until they walked in front of pudding shop. After they got some pudding they walked to a nearby park and sat on a bench, or at least Desmond was while Neptune was jumping around on multiple objects.

"Hey, you need to stop before you fall and spill your pudding and I won't give you any of mine." Desmond called out.

"See, that's where your wrong. I have max agility points, so I won't fall no matter what." Neptune retorted with a thumb pointed toward her and a smile on her face. A few seconds later, a loud crashing noise was heard.

Desmond let out a heavy sigh "See, told ya." He deadpanned.

"Noooooooooo, my pudding!" She cried out, then turned to the man "Can I have yours? Please?"

"No"

"Please." She got a little closer to him while giving him the puppy dog eye look.

About a few minutes later he cursed internally "Fine." He handed the pudding to her "Sometimes you can be too cute for your own good you know." He crossed his arms as she sat next to him.

"Thanks, I try." She said with a chuckle. She then brought the spoon near Desmond's face "Here, I feel kinda bad for more or less taking your pudding, so let's share the rest."

"All right." He took the spoon. The two ate the pudding and were watching the sunset.

"Hey, whatcha thinking about? You've had a thoughtful look on your face for a while now." Neptune asked breaking the silence that had been present for the last several minutes.

He looked toward the ground "I-I've been thinking about me and this world. Should I be here in a different plane of space and time. Clearly this place hasn't rejected me, but instead it gave me powers. I'm glad that I've gotten to know you all, back in my world everything seems like it's all in black, white, and grey." He looked at her "But since I got here, things seem in full bloom. Full of color, colors I haven't seen in a while. I want to know you all more, but… but I'm scared to get to close to anyone. I feel like the closer I get, the faster people disappear from my life. My family moved a lot, so, what felt like every time I would become good friends with someone we'd leave and… I'd never see them again." He let out a sigh as he finished.

Neptune stood up, stepped in front of him and look directly into his eyes "Hey, we're not going anywhere, ok. We'll all be friends until the end of time, so don't worry about anything. It's obvious that you're supposed to be here because of this crazy power that you have, you know only the main cast and villains get the cool powers. And sense you're not evil that means your part of the main cast of characters." She finished her sentence proudly with a big smile.

Desmond laid down on the bench, put his arms behind his head and looked up at the sky "I hope your right." He stated in a hushed tone.

"Of course, I'm right. I'm the main protagonist." She exclaimed pointing a thumb at herself.

"And there goes the serious vibe we had going on. Can't stand it for very long can you?" Desmond asked while staring at the night sky.

"You know it." She responded and then sat above his head on the bench. "So, whatcha lookin at?"

"The stars. There beautiful here just like back home. How many do you think are up there?" He asked.

Neptune pondered for a moment "I don't know, a lot. Maybe a few hundred thousand, not sure though. What about you?"

"A million maybe. I guess we'll never know but it's fun to guess sometimes." He sat up and looked at Neptune "You need to work harder." He stated with a serious look.

"W-what?! Where did that come from?" Neptune rebutted.

"As your friend, I want you to do the best you can, so you can shine among the million stars in the sky. So, that your legacy would be etched in history for all of eternity." He responded while smile to her.

Neptune chuckled a little "You say some weird thing sometimes Dez."

"Hey, come on it wasn't that weird." He stated with a little laugh. "Let's head back Nepgear will get worried if we don't get back soon." He got up and started to walk out of the park followed by Neptune.

* * *

A few days later Desmond walked into the guild about to turn in a few quests and accept some more when someone was causing a scene. He looked to see what the fuss was all about to see a man about 6' 3" all muscled out yelling at one of the quest givers. He turned to a person next to him and asked "Who is this guy and what's his problem?"

The man turned to him "You don't know him? Oh ya, your still kinda new here aren't ya. He's Edgar Schmidt, one of the strongest guild members and his family are high up, so he tends to get what he wants most of the time due to his parents and a lot of people fearing him. It seems like his mad about not getting some kind of quest that he supposedly asked for her to hold."

"But you can't do that, even I know that. It's first come first serve." Desmond replied "Someone needs to teach him a thing or two." He stated as he began walking toward Edgar.

"WELL, IF I CAN'T HAVE IT, THEN TELL ME WHO TOOK IT!" Edgar yelled at the lady behind the counter.

"I can't do that it's the privacy policy." She responded while partially cowering back.

"Ya, she's right. So, stop being a douche about it. Man up and move on. There's no reason to yell at a lady. But if you really want to know I did." Desmond called out while crossing his arms.

"Hmmm, I haven't seen you before little man. I guess you don't know who I am with the way you're talking." Edgar half-way snarled out seeing the young man.

"No, I found out who you are. I just frankly don't care. It's not an excuse for your outburst of stupidity." Desmond rebutted

The words were starting to annoy Edgar "Look here brat! You don't come in here and start yappin your mouth and expect to get away with it!"

"Oh, but you do, seems like you don't have to many brain cells left. What did ya do, knock em all out while bashing your head on a tree, or have you always been that moronic and arrogant. It's rather pathetic. And why should it matter what I say, because it your feelings? Because things aren't going your way? Well I guess with mommy and daddy doing everything for you, you think you own the place now." Desmond wasn't pulling any punches and saw the reaction he was trying to get out.

Edgar had enough, he materialized his broad sword and started to bring it down toward Desmond, until he heard a clap. Desmond clapped his hands together and stated "Tsk, tsk, tsk, you should know you can't do that here, but if you want to fight that badly we can go to the colosseum."

Edgar reluctantly put his sword away "Fine… Just know I'm gonna squash you little bug. Be there in one hour." That was the last thing he said before walking out of the building.

Desmond finally walked out onto the colosseum floor, looking at the crowd cheering for the two contestants.

"Wow, I didn't think you'd actually show up." Edgar called out.

"Oh, my. It's like I'm not a coward who hides behind bull threats and fake strength." Desmond added filled with sarcasm.

"You're just asking for it punk." Edgar said as he brought out his sword. The timer for the match started counting down.

"All I hear is talk from you, no balls." Desmond pulled out one of his swords.

The timer hit zero and the bell rang aloud. Edgar ran toward Desmond and started throwing several slashing attacks his way. Desmond dodged all of them with ease, after a minute of that Desmond spoke up "Is that all you got, really. So, it looks like I was right just a bunch of talk. It's pretty hard to squash something you can't even hit." Desmond chuckled a bit after saying that.

"Don't get cocky kid!" Edgar blurted out and started his assault again. This time Desmond just batted his opponent's sword away as if it was but a fly. After some more attacks and parries later Desmond jumped back and stated "Now it's time for my fun." A malicious grin grew across his face as he dashed toward Edgar, feigned a sword attack and kicked him in the gut instead. Desmond then started a barrage of attacks. Edgar blocked a few attacks but most of them connected leaving cuts in multiple places. Desmond kicked Edgar causing him to fall to the ground, Desmond stopped for a moment before pulling out his second sword. He then went back on the attack, this time even faster than before. Edgar at time couldn't even see Desmond's swords as they moved. "Are you done yet? Just give up… you're finished." Desmond deadpanned while looking at Edgar's body on the ground.

"N… not… just yet." Edgar said while standing back up.

"Wow, so it looks like your balls are finally dropping. Standing up after taking so much pain, congrats, you've earned a cookie. But I'll humor you, I'd like to try something new anyway." Desmond stated and put his swords away. Edgar saw this and started to move toward Desmond. Desmond put his left hand over his right and concentrated, his hand started to spark slowly and then busted out into a blade of lightning, replacing his hand. "Now that looks awesome." He said quietly to himself, then he started to run toward the other man. Once the two were a few feet away the both swung their blades and after one strike Edgar's sword or at least most of it fell to the ground. It was sliced cleanly just above the hand guard, the only thing left after that was the red metal at where the cut occurred. "Ya, now that was fun." Desmond said as he looked at his blade hand, which he reverted to normal. "It looks like I win." He stated as he walked away.

"Don't be too sure of yourself. I still have a trick up my sleeve." Edgar said as he materialized a spear and threw it at Desmond. Desmond was about 15 feet away, so he saw it and tried something out. And that something worked, the spear was suspended in midair leaving everyone flabbergasted. "H-h-how. How did you do that?" Edgar questioned through the shock of what just happened.

"Simple really, if you didn't notice I have an ability to control electricity. So, I used that to create a magnetic field strong enough to the metal from the spear in place. But I don't think that's all I can do with it, so let's find out shall we." He stated and then he spun the spear around and with a single motion of his hand sent the spear right back to its sender almost hitting Edgar.

"Well I think I'm done with my fun. So, I'll end this battle now." Desmond said as he pulled out his swords again and sped his way toward Edgar. Desmond then proceeded to hit a few times before he was on his back. Desmond to this time to impale his swords to the left and right of Edgar's head just leaving a few inches in between the weapons and his ears. Desmond then proceeded to bring out his pistol, aiming it at Edgar's face. "I hope you're at peace with yourself. Goodbye." Desmond harshly said.

Edgar just looked for a couple of seconds wide eyed, then spoke up "N-no, no. Don't do this! I'll forfeit the match, I'll apologize, just don't kill me!" he spoke desperately and hastily as he closed his eyes waiting for what was to happen.

"Sorry… too late. But your fate has already been sealed." Desmond spoke coldly.

The next sound was of a gunshot and then utter silence, even from the crowd. A few seconds passed and Edgar's eyes slowly opened, he then looked around to see Desmond a few feet away and his swords gone. "I-I thought you were going to kill me." He said while still sitting on the ground.

"I told you your fate was sealed, I had no intention to kill you from the start. Only to make you fear me, like you have many other people. You see, I don't like bullies. So, you better not make yourself one anymore, understand. I don't like teaching lessons twice." Desmond spoke adding a little malice into the last sentence.

"Y-yes sir." Was all that Edgar could say.

"Good. I hope to hear better things next time. But for now, I shall take my leave." He said with a little more chipper sound in his voice, as he walked out of the colosseum.

* * *

A few days after the fight Desmond had finished a quest near the border of Lastation and decided to pay Noire a visit. After he got to the city, he got himself some water and started walking to the basilicom until he noticed someone walking out of a shop. "Hey, how are you doing Noire?"

Noire was startled and almost dropped the bags she had, she turned around holding her bags behind her "H-hey there Desmond, I didn't expect to see you here. W-what are you doing here?" she asked clearly a bit nervous.

"Well, I was finishing up a quest near the border and thought I would give you a visit. So I was about to make my way to your basilicom, just to find you here. So, you were out shopping?" he asked and she just nodded "Ok, and from the looks of the store you just came out of, it was for thread. So, do you make things?"

"Y-yes." She responded meekly

"What do you make?" he asked.

"Clothes." She answered.

"What kind?"

"I just make… w-wait, why I'm I talking to you about this. What I do in my private time is not your business." She said with her head looking to the side.

"Let's see here, I'm going to take a guess. I don't think you would make yourself any towels, wash cloths, etc. I don't think you would make any dresses when you could get famous name brands. So, hmm, what could it be. What. Could. It. be." He said with a finger on his chin "Oh, I know. Cosplay." He proclaimed with a smile, while Noire on the other hand was panicking.

"W-w-what, cosplay. Nooo, no, no, why would I be into that." She stuttered with a slightly flustered face.

"With that reaction, I would say I was correct. Just to let you know Neptune tipped me off. So, what kind of cosplay do you do?" he questioned.

"Wait, you don't think it's weird, or don't you think that someone who runs a nation shouldn't be doing this?" she asked.

"No, in my world people cosplay all the time so I don't think it's weird. As for the whole running a nation thing and liking cosplay. Who cares, everyone needs a hobby to take their minds off something else. If you want we can talk about this stuff later, but for now I have a question." Desmond said.

"Y-ya, what is it?" Noire asked

"Do you mind if I spar with you?" He asked.

"O-ok, if you want to. But can I ask why?" Noire said.

"I just want to test my skills against someone or something that has any skill. Also, I heard that you fight with a fencing style of swordplay in your human form and I took fencing in school." He answered

"Don't you fight tough enemies already, like dragons, tanks, etc. right?" she asked

"Well ya, but they can't fight back like people can. You know actually hold a weapon and make it a challenge." He responded.

"Ok, I know a place that we can spar, it's a little bit out of town so it'll be a little walk." She told him as she started walking off.

A short time later, on the outskirts of Lastation. The two were looking at each other, swords drawn.

"Ok, ready?" He asked.

"Yes." She called back.

The two ran toward each other and commenced the fight. About ten minutes later the battle was finished and all that the two received was a few scratches. Both were also quite tired afterwards.

"Ok, ok. You win, just get that away from my face." Desmond stated while partially laying on the ground and Noire's sword a few inches from his face.

Noire pulled her sword back "Of course I won, why would you expect anything different." She said all haughtily.

Desmond stood back up and did a few stretches "Ok, now that was fun. Let's go again, but this time I'm going to do something a little different."

"Ok, but it's not like it's going to help you win." She told him as she began to take her stance again.

"Ready… Go." Desmond yelled.

As the ran toward each other their blades clashed, after a few exchanges they jumped back just like they had done before. This time though Desmond changed his stance a bit, then they both went back to attacking. Desmond adding flips and aerial attacks as he started pushing Noire back. After a little bit Noire finally got a hit in and started her barrage. Until Desmond hit her sword upward as he switched his sword to his left hand and punched her in the gut. He then proceeded to grab her right wrist to disarm her and did a hip toss. As she landed on the ground he threw a punch and stopped it a few inches from her face. He then flicked her forehead while giving her a large smile.

"I win." He announced.

"W-whatever, can you get off me." She said as his hand still held her wrist while he hovered above her. After standing back up she looked at him "How did you get so good at fighting?"

"Well, like most people through a lot of training and hard work. Also, I like to observe an opponent's attack patterns. Even if it's only a few moments, if I can see how someone fights I can usually find a way to beat them. Now with you if we fought with just using fencing like moves, you would most likely beat me time and time again. But after the first fight I noticed a few moments that you left yourself wide open, so I exploited the error and won." He answered.

"I see… are you still hell bent on staying in Planeptune? I know you would be great in our military." She asked

"Yes, they were the ones who opened up their home to me even though I was but a stranger to them. I cannot betray their trust nor their kindness. Anyway, do you want to grab a bite to eat? It's almost dinner time and I can't let the lovely lady pay for the man so I'm buying." He told her as he picked up her weapon from the ground and handed it to her.

"O-okay." She responded with a slight blush from being called lovely, she grabbed her weapon and the two headed back to the main city.

The two got back, ate, and talked for a while before Desmond looked at the time. "Oh, it's getting late I better get going." He started to stand up but stopped when Noire grabbed his wrist.

"W-w-why don't you s-stay at my basilicom for the night." She nervously spoke out while looking at the table.

"Sorry, maybe if it was way later, but I do need to get back. The Nep sisters tend to worry a little, but I'm a bit more worried about Neptune. When I've been late in the past she's tackled me and started hitting me. Then she'd force me to play games for a few hours afterward. So, if I stayed, she'd probably chase after me for an hour and then force me to do stuff for her all day for staying and for not taking her with me. I might try to come over some other time though." He told her with a smile.

She let go of his arm, looked back at him and nodded her head "Ok, just get back safely. N-not that I care about what happens to you."

"Of course, you don't." he said sarcastically "All well, see ya." He waved his hand as he walked out of the restaurant.

After sometime Desmond arrived back to the planeptune basilicom. As he opened the door the first thing he saw was a Nep with a foreign object, well more specifically a wooden sword. "Hey! Do you know how late it is?!" she yelled while pointing her free hand at him.

"Yaaaaa… it's a little past midnight right. Ugh… well I've been out most of the day doing quests. Then I went over to Lastation, met up with Noire, did some sparing. We ate dinner and we talked for a while then I started to head back here and now here we are. So please don't hit me." He responded while slowly walking forward.

"Hmmm… no I think I'm still gonna smack you." She said and proceeded to chase him "Hey! Get back here!"

"No thanks, I'd rather wake up in the morning without bruises." He said while trying to get away from her.

Nepgear walked in after she started to hear the noise. "What's going on? Oh, hey Desmond, when did you get, woah!" Nepgear shouted a little due to Desmond almost running into her and Neptune's sword missing her by a few hairs. Desmond's near miss caused him to fall, which Neptune took delight in jumping on top of him with a few cracks of the sword, she then started to poke his cheek with a smile.

"Hey, so you met up with little ol' Nowa huh. Whatcha guys talk about?" Neptune asked still sitting on him.

Desmond started to face Neptune as he rubbed his head "That's gonna leave a mark, man that hurt. You ok Nepgear?" he looked at her and she shook her head "Ok good, now for your question we just had small talk nothing important."

"Ok, that's kinda boring, but whateves. Let's go play games, go, go, go." Neptune started to lift the man to his feet and push him towards the t.v. "Were going to play all night tonight." She threw a fist in the air. A couple of hours later Nepgear was in bed, Neptune had passed onto Desmond's lap while playing and Desmond had just finished a mission he was on.

He looked at her then yawned, he started to think 'Even if your loud and annoying as all could be. Your still one of the most fun beings that I've known…' he put his hand on her head, she started to smile 'and of course cute. You do know how to cheer someone up don't ya, you could probably pull someone out of the deepest and darkest part of their internal self. Heck you basically did that to me… Oh! Hey! Stop drooling on me!' he quickly moved her to a position that she wouldn't be putting spit on him 'All well, time for bed.' He smiled, picked her up and carried her to her bed and went to his room to sleep.

* * *

The next day Desmond woke up, took a shower, got dressed, ate breakfast and chilled in the living room portion of the basilicom watching t.v. until Neptune started playing games on it. After a while he got up and started walking around the place, until he heard a noise from down the hall. When he reached the door, he found Nepgear working on something "Hey, what's up Gear?" he asked as he stood by the door.

She turned to look at the voice she heard "Oh, hey. Not doing much, just some tinkering." She smiled his way "Come in."

Desmond walked up next to her and saw she was working on her beam saber. He gestured toward the sword "Whatcha doing with it?" he asked.

"I'm just trying to increase the power of it." She replied.

He looked at the weapon and pondered for a moment "I suggest to move the power coupling positions, and change the battery type. You'll get a thinner blade but it also will be denser and cause more damage." He stated.

"O-oh, now I see. How do you know so much about this?" she questioned.

"I have my own beam sabers, remember? Or did you not know? All well it doesn't matter, point is that I've done some work with them. Too bad they won't be as powerful as this." He said before raising his right hand and turned it into a lightning blade.

"W-what the goodness?!" Nepgear exclaimed while staring at it.

"Ya I know right, I just figured out I could do this a few days ago, and it's awesome. But also, quite dangerous. Sooo, I'll put this away now." He said as he turned his hand back to normal. "Ok, after your done with that do you want to help me create something?" he asked.

"Sure, I'm almost done here. What did you have in mind?" she responded.

"I've had the idea for a little while now to make a railgun." He told her

"A railgun?" she questioned.

"Ya, you know a device that fires a projectile faster than the speed of sound through storing enough electricity within a compartment that is then used as the propellant for the projectile." He explained. "I've drawn some blueprints for it, but it would be nice to have an extra hand with this so I thought that it would be right up your alley."

"Ok, that sounds fun." She said. After about 45 minutes later Nepgear was done with her weapon, and the two were working on the railgun which was mostly finished. "Hey Desmond, can you come over her and see if this is right? It looks a little off." She asked.

"Ok" he walked over to her, partially leaning on her shoulder as he looked at the piece she was working on. "Hmmm, ahh. You just accidently mixed the wires up, I've done that a handful of times myself, it's easy to happen." He looked over at her and saw some red on her face "You ok?"

"Y-y-yes, y-you're just a-a little close." She stuttered out with a blush still on her face.

He then finally noticed and moved back and rubbed the back of his head "Sorry about that. Anyway, I just need to finish one more thing then we can assemble the railgun." After the railgun was made he looked at Nepgear with a smile "Great, now we can test it. Of course, though I'm just going to use it at a low setting so it doesn't destroy the room." He set up a sheet of metal one inch thick as a target and placed a 6-mm steel ball inside of the weapon. He charged the weapon with his electricity and set the weapon on low. But before he fired the gun he put up a strong magnetic field both behind the metal and in front of the two of them just in case of any ricochets. Desmond looked at Nepgear one more time and signaled her to put on her headphones. He turned back and started the countdown "5… 4… 3… 2… 1… fire!" he shouted.

Right before the shot occurred a curious Neptune had heard a lot of racket and was going to see what all the hub bub was about. So, she made her way to the door and opened it, bad timing "Hey, what's with all the noise you t…" and in that moment the gun went off causing a strong sound wave to hit Neptune's ears also causing her to cry out in pain while rolling on the floor.

The target was hit and a small hole was put into it, a good thing he set up a field behind it to stop any further damage. He looked at Nepgear and performed a fist pump as he smiled and she responded with a smile as well. Then it hit him, he could hear a faint noise, but what was it? He turned to see Neptune on the ground and then took off his headphones. "Nepppppuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! What was that about!?" Neptune yelled as she jumped back up.

"Oh, hey Neptune…" He said while rubbing the back of his head "looks like you didn't have any ear protection. Sorry about that, I guess we should have told you what we were doing so you wouldn't barge in like you did."

"Sorry sis." Nepgear apologized as she did a little bow.

"It's ok I guess, the hearing is starting to come back to me. But for payment you'll have to treat me to pudding later got it buster." Neptune stated as she pointed to Desmond.

"Ok, Ok. I guess that's fair. But first let Gear and I clean up first." He stated as he pointed to the mess in the room.

"Fine. Just be fast." Neptune demanded as she ran back to the living room.

"Well, let's get to work. Then we can all go out and get some pudding, sound good?" Desmond asked Nepgear.

She shook her head "Yes, that sounds great." The rest of the day was rather uneventful.

* * *

A couple of days later, during the afternoon Desmond was gathering a few things before walking out the door. Until a voice called out for him and of course it was Neptune "Hey, Dez, where you goin?"

"I'm heading off to Leanbox, I told Vert that I would let her teach me how to play that game she spends so much time on. So, I'll probably be gone for at least tonight, maybe tomorrow depending on how long we stay up playing." Desmond responded.

"Just make sure she doesn't keep you for over there, you're staying with us got it." She emphasized as she poked his chest.

He shook his head "I know." Then he gave her a smile and a wave "Bye." with that he left.

After some time, he arrived at the Lenbox basilicom and was reluctantly let in by Chika. He knocked on the door to Vert's room "Hey, I'm here." Desmond called out.

"Come in." Vert responded. He opened the door and saw Vert messing with some wires "I have just finished your set up so we can get started now."

He walked over to the components that Vert had set up for him. He sat in the chair and looked at the dual monitor setup to see the desktop and an icon on it. Desmond moved the mouse and hovered the cursor over the icon, after a couple of seconds the title "4GO" popped up. "This is the game, right? 4 Goddesses Online, isn't that what you called it?"

"Yes, that is the game I love to spend countless hours on. Go ahead and start it up and I will teach you the basics." Vert answered while standing behind him.

For the next hour or so, Vert taught Desmond the ropes of the game. Vert also joined up with him in game and helped him with quest so he could level up.

Before either one knew it was three in the morning. "Wow, I didn't realize it was this late. Are you tired?" Desmond asked Vert with his eyes still on the screens.

"Of course, not someone of my stature can go several days without sleep to game." Vert responded with a little pride in her tone.

"Well, let's keep going then." Desmond stated.

A few days later Desmond had not returned to Planeptune so, Nepgear went to Leanbox to check up on him. When she arrived, she walked up to Vert's door and heard some noise. She opened it to see both Desmond and Vert in front of the tv, the sound coming from the game was all she heard. The other thing see saw though was Vert lying on top of Desmond's chest both asleep, Desmond still had a controller in his left hand. "What the goodness!" Nepgear shouted out.

The other two stirred as they awoke from the noise. "Hey, Gear, could you please not be so loud." That was all that Desmond said before falling back down and sleeping once again.

Vert sat up wiped the sleepiness from her eyes and beamed a smile at Nepgear "My, my, what has brought you here my dear Nepgear?"

"I came here to see how Desmond was doing and I find you… s-sleeping on him. What was that about?" Nepgear nervously spat out.

"Oh, well, we were playing games since he arrived almost no stop so at some point within the last few hours we both passed out." Vert answered and that seemed to have calmed Nepgear down.

"Ok, well I should probably be getting back with him. Neptune's been worried." Nepgear stated.

"If you shall. But not until after he wakes up, like I said we've been up for a while and he needs his sleep. So, let's have some tea for now." Vert said as she clapped her hands together.

* * *

A couple of days later Desmond decided to take a vist to Lowee. He needed some quiet time, or at least as quiet it would be with the twins there. He got up early, grabbed a bit to eat and left the basilicom.

After sometime he arrived in front of the Lowee basilicom. He had stopped at a candy store on the way, to try to keep Rom and Ram occupied and quiet for a little bit. He opened the door "I'm here." He called out. He then herd noises around the corner in the hallway, to reveal the twins as they raced over to him

"Hey!" Ram yelled as she skidded to a stop.

"Good morning." Rom quietly said as she stepped out from behind Ram.

"Good morning you two. I have something for the two of you." He stated as he pulled a bag out from behind his back "I have some candy for, but you can only have it if you promise to keep quiet while I'm here reading with Blanc."

"Ya, sure, whatever, just give it here!" Ram exclaimed with her hands out. "Are you gonna play some games with us?"

"Sure, we can do something after I finish reading." He responded.

He handed the two the candy and they cheerfully ran off. Desmond then walked to Blanc's room and knocked on the door, he waited for a response. Then the door opened to reveal the brown-haired girl "Hi, how are you? Come in." Blanc asked with her an expressionless look on her face and walked back to her chair.

"I'm good, how about you?" He responded as he walked behind her. He then grabbed a book from a shelf and sat in a chair.

"Good, busy but good." She told him with her eyes in her book.

"Well, that is expected of a CPU's life to be busy. It's nice to get some peace and quiet every now and then, thanks for that." Desmond said while opening his own book.

"Your welcome." Blanc looked up from her book at the boy "I forgot to ask you, how do you know how to read our books? I would think that our written languages would be different, you coming from a different world." She asked

"Well, during the first few days after I arrived, histoire brought a paper with the alphabet on it so that I would be able to read your world's language. Also with the fact that our spoken language is basically the same, also that several letters look close to the same between the two, it made it easy to learn." He responded, the two then quietly read their books.

A few hours later Desmond had finished his book, he then stood up, stretched and walked to the door "Thanks for having me here." He stated while looking at her "If you need me I'll be hanging with Rom and Ram before I leave. See ya."

"Ok, be careful. Make sure they don't roughhouse too much." She replied just before the door closed.

* * *

Desmond looked up at the ceiling as he laid in his bed, as he was laying he started to think 'Wow, I can't believe is already been around a month since arriving here. It's been so fun here, it doesn't feel possible that so much time has passed.' He then stood up and got ready for the day.

He walked out of his room and toward the kitchen and made breakfast for the other residents of the basilicom and for Compa and IF, as he expected for them to be in soon. After they ate Neptune and Nepgear went to the living room to play games, If and Compa went along to watch. Desmond stayed and cleaned up the kitchen as Historie helped. "Today's the day isn't?" Desmond asked her as she handed him a plate.

"Yes, the CPU's will leave later and put an end to ASIC. They all will gather here before they leave." She responded

"Ok, when will they leave?" He asked.

"During the afternoon, the other CPUs should be heading over here soon." She told him.

At about midday the other CPUs arrived and Compa made lunch for everyone, after everyone ate the CPUs and candidate gathered together so they could leave for the Gameindustri Graveyard. Histoire was about to set up the portal, so everyone was saying their quick byes.

"Dezzz!" Neptune yelled as she tackled him from behind with a hug "Don't think you'll get away from me!"

"Just because you forced me to play tag with you doesn't mean you can tackle me, so can you get off." He said as she started to stand up. He rubbed the back of his head as he stood "Well since your about to leave, I'll be seeing you tomorrow, then right?"

"Ya, we should be back by then. Those baddies won't know what hit them, so it'll be a piece of cake." She formed her fingers in the v formation as she spoke.

"Ok," he hugged her, pulled away and placed his hand on her head "take care of yourself and don't have too much without me got it." He told her with a little laugh. "I wish Histoire and IF would let me go along with you guys."

"You know we can't let you do that, there's too much to do around here." IF spoke out as she neared them.

"Ya, ya, anyway I'll see the others off, I think Gear was still in her room." Desmond stated as he walked off. "Hey everyone, I'm just saying a quick bye before everything starts up. Also, Blanc I was going to hang out with you and the twins after you got back if that's fine with you."

"Yes, that'll be fine. It's been a while since the last time you visited hasn't it." Blanc responded in monotone.

Before anyone else could say anything, Neptune came rushing in with Nepgear "Let's get this started! I want to get this done so I can get back and sleep. Also, because the longer I'm fighting those guys, the less time I'll be in the fic." Neptune announced in her fourth wall break fashion.

Histoire opened the portal to the Gameindustri Graveyard and everyone pilled in and left. With Desmond, IF, Compa, and Histoire seeing them off.

* * *

The next day, Desmond had done a few quests through the early morning and then sat around the basilicom to wait for the CPUs to arrive with IF and Compa, until.

"Desmond! IF! Compa! Come here quick!" Histoire cried out.

"What's going on?" the three ask.

"I interrupted a transmission and…" Histoire said before pointing at the screen.

They saw the CPUs… tied up and beat down. Around them were four others that Desmond did not recognize. One of them spoke up "Gameindustri, see that your leaders have lost. Turn away from your so-called leaders and follow us. Our lady will be revived soon and our dreams accomplished." That was all she said before she turned, walked away and the feed cut off.

Desmond balled up his fist and barged over to the door. "Hey! Where are you going?" IF called out.

"I'm going to find a way to get them back." He deadpanned 'Damn it Neptune' he thought as he continued to walk out.

* * *

 **Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. My longest chapter yet, so there's probably some mistakes here and there, but I wanted to get it out. Thanks for the support from both the follows/favs and the at the moment two reviews but they are encouraging. Review and tell me how I'm doing, and as always have a good day.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter is the final one before I start to follow the re;birth 2 game. And now onto the chapter.**

* * *

Three days later, during the evening Desmond returned to the basilicom. He walked through the door and called out "I'm back!" as he started to walk toward his room.

"Where have you been!?" IF yelled at him as she walked over to him and proceeded to slap him upside the head. Histoire and Compa showed up behind her.

"Ow! Hey!"

"No, you get no hey. You left here for three days without contacting us. What were you thinking, we were worried sick, we were starting to think that something happened to you. All three of us couldn't find any info on where you've been at." IF complained as she hit him a few more times in frustration.

"At least he's back and safe now, IF" Histoire said trying to calm IF down.

"Yes, but it looks like he has some bruises and scratches." Compa said worried.

"Don't worry Compa, I should be fine in a few hours. Nothing for you to worry about." Desmond reassured the young nurse.

"If there is anything I can do just let me know" Compa said with a smile.

"If you wouldn't mind, could you get me something to eat? I haven't eaten anything since I left." He asked.

"Sure, what would you like." Compa asked.

"Anything would be fine, thank you. I need to take a breather, so I'm going to head into my room ok." Desmond said as he started walking toward his door.

"IF, I need your help with some work, so if you'd please." Histoire said.

"But…" she looked at Histoire and back at Desmond still a little angry, then let out a big sigh "ok." She said as she walked over to Histoire.

Desmond walked into his room, sat on the bed and let out a large groan of frustration with his hands on his face. He then laid back on the bed and relaxed. About ten minutes later there was a knock at the door and the person entered. It was IF and she brought a plate of food. "Compa told me to give this too you." She placed the food down on the side table "I need to talk to you." She said as she sat on the bed. "First I would like to know where you've been."

"I've been searching for any clues that would help us free Neptune, Gear and the other CPUs. So, I looked throughout Planeptune's… less desirable areas, to try to find something and nothing. I went to the outskirts to an old rundown building when I caught wind of a rumor that ASIC members would meet up there. Of course, it ended up being just a rumor. So, three sleepless days and nothing to show for it." He raised his head to look at the ceiling and let out a sigh.

"So, you've been trying to find a lead for three days without sleeping or eating anything?" she asked.

"Basically." He responded as he reached for the plate of food.

"You idiot." She said calmly with a heavy sigh "Are you trying to make yourself pass out? What's with all the bruises anyway?" IF asked.

"Oh, that. Some muggers tried to rob me earlier today, we fought, I won, and that's the end of that story." He stated and went back to eating.

"Ok. Now for the other reason why I'm in here. We need to find a way to get you back home as soon as possible. This is not your battle, you don't belong here and we don't need more innocent people getting hurt." She told him with all the fun sucked out of her face.

He looked at her, swallowed the food in his mouth and began to speak "I've already told Histoire to stop searching for ways to send me back."

"What!? Why?" IF asked in shock.

"I have nothing to go back to." He simply answered.

"What do you mean?" was all that she could muster.

With a grimace of pain that came upon his face, he began "About just over a year before I came here. My family were in our vehicle going home from a day out in town, when…" He lowered his slightly and he grit his teeth for a second "we were hit by an oncoming truck… I blacked out shortly after, when I awoke I was at the hospital. I was told that my parents were died instantly from the hit. Then I was told that my two brothers passed away in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The only survivors were my sister and myself… and she was in critical condition. I somehow was able to get away with a broken leg, fractured arm and cuts scattered about. The next day the doctors told me that my sister was not looking good and that she wasn't going to make it. I asked if I could see her and reluctantly they agreed. When they carted me in there… she looked like a mess. So many machines hooked up to her, so many cuts delivered to her arms and legs. She was conscious, barely, she always was a tough girl. I tried talking to her but all that she could was groan in pain and cry. All I could do was hold her hand" Tears slowly fell down his cheek "Here I was her older brother and I could do nothing as she slowly died." Desmond hit the end table with a closed fist. IF saw a look of pain and anger pulsing through his eyes as he sat.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." IF said softly.

"It's ok, you couldn't have. I didn't tell anyone and I'm from a different dimension then you anyway." He stated with a slight chuckle as he wiped the tear stains from his face.

"Now, where was I. When I was released from the hospital it was during the beginning of the summer so I had some time to recover. Once school arrived, it was… different, people knew about what happened. My friends were worried and visited me shortly after the incident occurred, they still tried to be as supportive and good as possible to me, and I'm thankful for that. They helped me through the early days a lot. Many other students found out from the news, ya the wreck was that bad. Anyway, they seemed like they didn't know how to approach me. People were awkward toward me and I isolated myself with reading, playing games, and working out. Pretty much anything to stay away from human interaction. So, after time my friends and I kind of drifted apart and did not speak with each other as much. So, that's why I feel like there is nothing for me back in that world, and that's why I need to find a way to save the CPUs. I can't lose anyone else. You all have become so important to me over the time that I've been here, so the thought of anyone dying… I just… can't… it'd be like…" he started to break down slowly, but anger still visible in his face.

IF scooted over and embraced him in a tight hug "I can't imagine what you've gone through. And I don't know what I should say. So, all I got is that we'll save everyone, ok. And If you're going to stay here in this world then we will need your help to get them back. That doesn't mean you can go running off like you did the past few days we need to work together to get everyone back, and passing out from hunger and lack of sleep won't help anyone. Ok." As she spoke he slowly wrapped his arms around her.

"Ok, there is another thing I would like to ask of you IF. Ever since the incident my anger tends to boil over and I go into a rage. If it's bad enough for me to completely snap, well, there was I time when I almost killed two guys that had been bullying a girl for months at school. I was fed up with them, so much so that one guy had multiple breaks in one leg, an arm, and a messed-up nose. The other guy, I broke as many bones in his left hand as I could, dislocated his shoulder and crushed his right kneecap. So, if it looks like my anger is ever getting the better of me, please stop me, calm me down. Some way or another, I don't care if you have to hit me as long as my focus is off of who or whatever is angering me. I don't want to do that to someone again, I more or less blacked out during the time that I had beat them down. But I could still see everything, like I couldn't control my body. I'd rather never have that happen again, so please." Desmond asked with a quiet and slightly shaky tone in his voice.

"Of course." Was all that she responded with as they were still hugging.

"Thanks, you're… such a… good… friend." He said as he fell asleep and his arms fell from her back.

"See, told ya you'd pass out from all that." IF said as she laid him down on his bed and pulled the covers over him. She smiled at him and kissed his forehead, as she raised back up 'Why the hell did I just do that!?' flew through her mind. 'Is it because he opened up for once. I mean all that we knew about his past is that he had a couple of brothers that fought with and the mentioning of a sister. Or is it because it's getting late, so I must be tired and that's why I did it. Ya, that must be it.' She walked to the door opened it turned around "goodnight." And closed the door.

* * *

The next day Desmond opened his eyes, sat up, and stretched. He then got dressed for the day and walked out the door to get some breakfast. After eating a bowl of cereal, he started walking toward the door. Before he got to it, it began to open as IF walked in "Hey, good to see you up. Have a good sleep?" She asked closing the door.

"It was good, even though I don't remember actually laying down though. Did I end up wiping out while we were talking?" he rubbed the back of his head as he spoke.

"Ya, you did, told you didn't I. Anyway, where were you heading to?" she questioned with a hand on her hip.

"I'm going to Lowee to check on the situation there. Then I plan on checking up on the other two nations after that. Leanbox probably has it the worst right now without a candidate. So, I'll probably be in Lowee for today and maybe tomorrow, then I'll try to finish up with the other two and be back within a week. If you want to talk to me just call." He answered with a small smile.

"Ok, just be careful out there, ASIC have been converting more people lately, so just keep an eye out." IF stated.

"Ok" he walked up to her and hugged her and she tensed up a bit "thanks for the talk last night I needed that. I haven't talked to anyone about what happened long ago, and what you said gave me the focus I needed." He kissed the top of her head, which caused a great deal of red to flow to her face.

"W-w-what was that f-for?" she stuttered looking down 'Was he not completely asleep last when…' she thought before inwardly shaking her head to stop the thought.

"That was just a friendly gesture, a thank you of sorts. See you later" He said as he walked out the door.

IF just stood still 'He said it was just a thank you. So, why does it bother me.' She thought before shaking her head and moved on to talk to Histoire.

Sometime later Desmond was approaching Lowee's basilicom. He wondered if the twins knew about the situation yet or not. Well, he was about to find out. He started to open the door to the building and walked only a foot or two into the place before a book flew toward his face. He caught it with his hand.

"Take that! What's taken you so long Blanc, it's been four days!" Ram yelled before she saw who was there "Oh, hey Desmond, what are you doin' here and what's with the sad look?"

"Hi, Desmond." Rom said quietly.

"Hey where's Mina? I need to talk to…" Desmond asked but he was cut off when the person in question walked in. "Mina, we need to talk. Preferably away from the twins for the moment." She just nodded and they walked off into a room and closed the door. "So, the twins don't know?"

"No, they don't. I wasn't sure how to tell them." Mina replied.

He leaned his back on the door "I'll take care of it."

"Come again?" she asked.

"I'll talk to the twins about the situation." He replied.

"I can't let you…" she started.

He held up his hand "No, don't start saying it's not my problem. I've known you all long enough that it's become my problem too, and I can't let you do all of this by yourself, run the nation without Blanc and try to take care of two kids. That's too much for one person, so I'll help around here when I'm not taking care of things in Planeptune. I'm not taking no for answer." He told with a strict tone.

Mina waited a few moments before responding "Ok, if that's what you want." She sounded a little defeated in her answer.

Desmond nodded "Thank you." He then walked out the door and toward the twins. Once he got to them, he beckoned the two with a move of his arm and the two walked toward him as he sat in a chair.

"Hey what is it? Do you know where Blanc is?" Ram asked.

Desmond looked into the eyes of the two young girls and sighed "Yes… yes I do. But you two are not going to like it." The two girls were about to speak up before he held up his hand "No talking till I'm done ok. Blanc and the other CPUs… have been captured by the organization ASIC. And we don't know how to actually get them without some large sacrifices."

"W-what!? What do you mean Blanc been captured? She wouldn't let that happen." Ram said in a panic.

"B-Blanc… i-is." Was all that Rom said as she started to tear up.

Before either one could continue Desmond wrapped each one with an arm and hugged them "Hey, don't worry. We'll get them all back then have a big party. Ok, I'm not going to let my family happen to everyone else. So, no crying, you two need to stand up stronger than ever now, ok."

After his talk, he let the twins go from the hug, Rom was wiping tears from her face and Ram gave him a short smile before asking "What happened to your family?"

His face turned somber "They died… a while back before I came here. I can't let you two go through the same." He deadpanned. The twins then gave him a quick hug before letting go. Desmond smiled and said "Thanks. Now let's find a way to get your sister back." He then stood back up and walked off as the other two cheered behind him.

* * *

About a year and a half later not much had changed in regard of getting the CPUs back. Desmond has been working within Planeptune, Lowee, and Leanbox. He had not done much in Lastation due to the nation have a strong oracle to help run the nation, and from what he had heard a good candidate taking care of the place as well. So, he left them alone, of course though his time was stretched rather thin as it was and also Kei told him to do so during his brief visit. Also during this time, he gained a new ability, he could construct and manipulate fire, and no amount of heat could affect him.

He was in Lowee at the time, turning in some quests that he had finished earlier that day. He then made his way toward the basilicom, before some shouting hit his ears, a familiar voice. He ran toward the sound, when he got to the source he saw Rom and Ram cornered by some thugs. Ram was standing in front of Rom while she screamed at the group. From what it sounded like they were saying, they were followers of ASIC, that alone caused his blood to boil. "Rom, Ram. Get out of here!" He yelled out.

"Desmond. We can handle it…" Ram started.

"Don't talk back, do what I told you and get away. Go back home, I'll meet back up with you there." He commanded Ram then nodded and transformed with Rom and the two flew off.

One of the thugs spoke up "You really think you'll see them again. There's five of us and one of you, what do you think you could do to us."

"Hmm, five low lives thought they could take down not one but two CPU candidates. Ha, don't make me laugh. As for me though I'm a lot deadlier than those two could ever be, so I suggest that you start praying now." Desmond spoke with venom dripping with every word.

"How dare you talk like that. ASIC will take over this world." One of the men yelled as he ran toward Desmond with a sword in hand.

Desmond simply materialized his sword and parried it. A great grin brewed over his face, the other four followed suit and attacked Desmond. Desmond then brought out his other sword and effortlessly blocked every attack that came his way.

The five were gasping for air out of exhaustion "Who is this guy? He's insane."

Desmond then turned to him "Who? Little ol' me. I thought you said that I couldn't do a thing that you would kill me. Now am I wrong? Did you not say that I wouldn't see those two girls again? Well then, HIT ME! FIGHT ME! GIVE ME A HUG!" His grin morphed into a malicious smile. The thugs were a bit shaken by this. "If that's all you've got, then I'll start having my own fun." Desmond stated as he let out a menacing laugh. He immediately moved forward, dematerialized the sword in his right hand and morphed it into his hand blade. He started to move faster, parried the incoming attack from the thug and cut his arm from just below the elbow. Nothing but screaming was heard for the next several seconds before he turned to look at the others. He teleported in front of another one and sliced the man's left leg just above the knee. One of the remaining three tried to attack from behind but was met with a lighting blade to the hand, removing three of his fingers on his right hand and then he suddenly lost the toes on his left foot. The last two stood side by side shaking from fear. Desmond removed the hand and weapon of one of them as the man fell screaming in pain, Desmond turned to the last one. The thug had dropped his weapon and backed up to a wall, Desmond grabbed him lifted him up slightly and brought the blade close to the man's heart.

"Please, stop, don't do it, don't kill me, I don't want to die." He pleaded as he started to cry.

"Hmm, interesting, you five were willing to take the life of not only me, but two young girls. Without the thought of any repercussions, so why should I let you live. Hmmm, tsk, tsk, tsk. That is a tough question, oooo. I know what to do, I'll let you all live. But…" Desmond undid his hand blade and placed the hand on the side of the man's face "I'll brand you a traitor of the nations, so everyone will know what you did. You five pissed off the wrong man." Desmond then increased the heat of his hand until it left a handprint burn mark on the man's face, Desmond just smiled through the whole process, through the screams. After he finished with him he did the same to the other four.

After leaving the area he went back to the guild and told the place that anyone with a hand shape burn mark on their face was a traitor and that the guild was not to allow them to take on any quest. After he did that he went to the basilicom for the night.

* * *

It was two years after the CPUs had been caught. Desmond was in Lowee after spending two weeks in Planeptune and a week in Leanbox. It was the middle of the night so he was in the guest room that Mina allowed him to use during his stays in Lowee. There was a knock at the door that woke him up "Come in." he said as he sat up. To his surprise, Rom opened the door and poked her head in "Everything ok?" he asked

She shook her head "I had a nightmare…" she sheepishly said "If it's ok with you, can I sit with you for a little bit?"

"Sure." He patted the spot next to him "My sister used to do this sometimes, she was too scared to go back to sleep because of a nightmare so it's fine."

"Thank you." She walked up to the bed and sat down.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked.

She looked down for a few moments then nodded. "I dreamed that… sis, didn't come back… she died. And you were taken and badly hurt… and Mina…" she started to cry.

He placed a hand on her shoulder "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, Mina's not going anywhere, and we'll get your sister back, ok." He told her with as bright of a smile as he could make.

She looked at him and smiled "Thank you."

"You know, I still have nightmares from time to time." He told her.

"Really?" she asked.

"Ya, after I got here, one night. I dreamed that I was back in my old world, back in my lifeless world with nothing good left. None of you were there, it freaked me out a bit. Thankfully it didn't last long. And that's on the nice end of what I've dreamt." He finished telling her.

"That sounds terrible. Hey. Can I ask you something?" Rom asked.

"What?"

"Can I call you big brother? You help us and protect us a lot, like Blanc. So, you seem like a brother." She asked sweetly.

He pondered for a moment than smiled at her "Sure, it might be nice to have a little sister again." He put a hand on her head "It's late so we need to get to bed ok." He turned off the lamp next to the bed and laid down. "Night."

"Night." She responded as she quickly fell asleep.

The next morning Desmond woke up, stood up and stretched. He looked at Rom still asleep and walked out the door. He went to make some breakfast, he decided to make French toast for everyone. After a while Ram walked in "Hey good morning, how are you?" Desmond asked.

Ram yawned "Mornin', I'm good. Have you seen Rom? She wasn't in our room when I woke up."

"Ya, she had a nightmare last night and asked if she could sleep next to me. She's probably still lying in bed." He responded and placed a plate of food in front of Ram "Now, eat."

"Thanks, looks good." She said as she begun to dig in. "This is great!"

"Thanks, after you eat go and get your sister up. We're going to do some quests later, so I need her to eat first." He told her.

"Ok, what kind of quests are we doing." She asked between bites.

"Just some simple ones for now, you two are still too inexperienced to take on tough enemies right now." He stated as he readied a plate for Rom.

The rest of the day went by smoothly.

* * *

A month later Desmond was walking in the outskirts of Planeptune when several loud noises came from a nearby town, including explosions, gunfire, and screams. When he got closer to the source of the commotion, he could see a handful of what looked like soldiers. Not from any nation, he recognized them as ASIC troops. There were about twenty of them, not that difficult. Desmond saw a couple stragglers in the back looking down alley ways.

Desmond came up from behind one of the two, materialized a metal knife, grabbed the guy's mouth to mute him, and severed the connection of the guy's brain with the rest of his spinal cord. After carefully laying down the body, he quickly moved over to the other formed his hand blade and decapitated him. He was going to continue his stealth attacks until he heard one of the soldiers speak.

"Take the building out! Use your rockets!" five soldiers started to line up pulling out launchers.

After hearing that he thought screw stealth, let's go guns ablaze. Desmond was going to use his railgun but decided against it to not cause more damage, so he gathered a large mass of electricity and hurled it over to the group. It set off like a grenade, sending sparks and killing a few from the high voltage. The rest looked over to Desmond and proceeded to fire rounds of ammunition in his direction. Desmond suspended every shot in mid-air with a strong magnetic field.

"Is this all you've got… pathetic. You really made the wrong man mad." Desmond muttered to himself, before throwing the shots back killing several of them. Seven remained, he materialized his sword and teleported in front of two soldiers, stabbed one threw the chest. The other he pushed back and pulled the pins off the grenades, the shrapnel was caught in his magnetic field before dropping to the ground. Desmond moved over to a soldier and quickly snapped his neck.

The last five were grouped together. Desmond walked over to them, materialized his pistol, shot two of them. He then proceeded to throw, what looked like their leader up against a wall, grabbed one of them and tossed him on the ground placing a foot on his head. And shot the hand of the last one, causing him to drop his gun, Desmond left his gun pointed at him. Desmond then turned his attention back to the one on the ground.

"Don't think that you all could get off with such easy and painless deaths. No, no, no, not after you attacked innocent lives, and the nation that I am so fond of." He materialized his knife again and stabbed the hand of the man on the ground. A piercing yell filled the air, and the temperature of the surroundings rose "I'm sick and tired of all of your organization's crap! ASIC this and that, trying to tear this world apart, while there are people like me trying to keep it alive! And you all are just reaaaalllyyy pissing me the hell off!" Desmond yelled with spite as he kept stabbing the man, his face full of hatred and anger. And small flames flowed out of his body, after a few moments he looked up to the one that stood at gunpoint. The man saw Desmond's right eye that looked a pure red flame flowing from it. After killing the guy on the ground Desmond moved toward the one standing. Stopped in front of him, looked over to the one suspended on the wall and then went to work. He grabbed the un shot hand of the lower ranked man and placed his pistol in it, he then told him "Shoot him." The man looked at Desmond with a look of half scared and half confused. "I said… shoot him." Desmond then pointed toward the officer on the wall.

The officer started to panic as he saw the other soldier's arm start to raise "No, don't do it!" "I'm trying not to, it's moving up on its own." The other spoke back. Desmond slowly forced the man's arm up by using the gun, the man tried to move it away from his higher up but found it difficult to move it more than a quarter inch.

Once the arm was fully extended Desmond overlaid his finger to place the soldier's finger on the trigger. "Now, let's see what happens when we squeeze this just a little more…" A shot fired just missing the man on the wall "Ooo, so close. Let's try again, but this time let's hit our target." A second shot, and a cry was heard. The bullet hit the officer's shoulder "Good, good. A hit, but not a bullseye quite yet. Now just a little more." A third shot hitting the other shoulder, more screams were heard "Hmm, you just flipped your last shot. Let's try to connect the dots shall we."

"Why are you doing this?" the soldier holding the gun asked with worry.

"Why? Really, you are asking me why I'm doing this. Is it not obvious, you killed civilians, destroyed part of the town, and you are part of the group trying to kill this world. How do you not think that reparations would be in order? If not, then you must be just stupid and blind. But at least you don't have a bullet in your head, now do you." Desmond spoke without mercy, and caused him to pull the trigger that led to a bullet to the brain of the man on the wall. After that Desmond took his gun back and dropped to body off the wall and the soldier dropped to his knees. "Wow, look at that. You killed you own comrade. Aren't you suppose to entrust each other, fight through thick and thin, protect each other with your life. And look what you did… you… shot… him. That must make you feel real bad now doesn't it. I'll offer you a solution." Desmond placed the gun to the back of the soldier's head "Either I can shoot you now and get it over with. Or, you can leave here, tell the others the dangers that face those who oppose the CPUs and those that follow them, and after all that leave ASIC for good. If you don't I'll find you and torture you till there is nothing but bone left from your body, got it." Desmond stated with venom brewing from each word.

The man just shook for a few moments before speaking up "I-I'll go, spare m-me. I'll do as you said." Desmond dematerialized the gun and stood the man up.

"Good, now tell me your name." Desmond asked.

"J-Justin." He said.

"Ok, Justin two weeks from now meet me in the Planeptune guild at noon, so I know you did what I told you." Desmond commanded.

"Y-yes sir." Justin responded.

"Good, now go." Desmond said before turning around 'Man, this is going to take a while to fix back up.' He thought before letting out a heavy sigh. 'I do go a little over board when I lose it don't I. It would be nice to get that under control, but all well, I guess they did deserve it. And it allowed me to get rid of some pent-up frustration.' Desmond then walked back to the basilicom for the rest of the day.

A few months later, it was in the evening Desmond was IF were walking back to the basilicom after completing a day of quests. Desmond stretched his arms upward "Man, today was tiring, don't ya think?" he said with a sigh.

"Ya, I guess it was. It's nice to see that your skills are improving since we last fought together." She stated.

"It has been a while hasn't it. I also notice something while you were doing some of your special attacks." He told her with a slight smirk on his face.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"Somethings that you say during your attacks seem quite… well like something a kid might say while playing a fantasy game with their friends." He stated as his smile widened.

"W-what do you m-mean? Of course, I don't say things like that." IF stammered with a dust of blush across the face.

Desmond moved a little closer to her face "Are you sure you don't have a chuunibyou past Iffy~?" he asked in a teasing tone.

IF's face grew increasingly redder "Ahhh, SHUT UP!" she screamed and took a swing at him, missing as he dodged the attack. A few more punches thrown and none connected.

After a couple of minutes of teasing and attacking, Desmond grabbed both of her arms to stop her from hitting him and said "Calm down, ok. For being a bit mean, I'll buy you some ice cream or something before we head home ok."

She looked at him with a rather annoyed face, she then took a sigh "Fine. But I'm getting the most expensive thing there." She told him.

"You're just as bad as Neptune sometimes." He stated.

"Don't compare me to Nep's childish behavior." She angrily said.

"Your right… at least she isn't a chuunibyou like you." He joked as he laughed. She didn't take to kindly to that as she tried to kick him as her hands were caught. "Sorry, sorry, last one, promise. I just couldn't resist."

 **I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, review and tell me how I'm doing. I'm going to have some kind of romance interest, but I'm not sure if I'm going to have it be with one person or a harem, most likely the latter but I guess I'll decide in time. This was also one of the quickest chapters that I have written, which is nice so I can get it out to all of you, and as always have a good day.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Welcome back to the story. Sorry it took sooooo long to get this out. But a lot of you know how school is. But now it's done for now, meaning more time to be spent on this story, playing games, etc. But for now without further delay, the chapter.**

* * *

Desmond was walking back to the basilicom from just finishing a few easy quests and lunch. He's been waiting for this day for a while, the day they get everyone back. By the time he got up to housing part of the building and opened the door, there was no one. He was half expecting IF to say something snarky about being late or something but no words were heard. "Hey! I'm back!" he called out as he moved through the building, finding no one still.

"Desmond! Desmond!" Histoire called out in a far-off room.

Desmond hurried over to where she was "Hey, what's up? Where's IF and Compa?"

"They have already gone to the Gameindustri Graveyard." She answered with slight worry in his voice.

"Why did you let them? We were all supposed to go, crap. Send me there quick." He quickly spoke.

"Ok, it will take me… three minutes." Histoire stated as started to create the portal.

Desmond groaned a bit "Can't you hurry it up?"

"I am sorry, but I cannot … … … done." She answered, and three minutes later it was finished.

"Great, thanks, see you soon." He said before stepping into the portal. The first thing he saw was what the name of the place suggested, a graveyard, junk everywhere. 'Ugh, it's going to be a pain to find those two in here, why couldn't they have waited.' He thought before going on his search. After a while he finally found them and… it looked like Gear was with them. IF was on the ground with Compa helping her up, and Nepgear was fighting some giant robot, and it wasn't looking good for her.

Desmond then saw the CPUs, hanging up by what looked like black cables. He saw them on that broadcast three years ago, but seeing it first hand, it hit him hard. Anger suddenly rose within him, he started to move closer to the three and robot, it looked like Nepgear's fight with the robot didn't affect him much, he was finally close enough to hear the robot talking "This was just a waste of my time! I'll finish you all off right now!" it swung it's axe down, but before it could hit anyone Desmond materialized his two swords and blocked it "The hell?! Who are you?!" The robot asked.

"What does it look like, I'm with them! I think you should be more worried about yourself Judge!" Desmond yelled as he gritted his teeth in anger and pushed the axe off his swords.

Judge looks at the boy in front of him. The young man wore a dark red t-shirt with a dark purple colored jacket the length down to just past his waist, sleeves down to his wrists. His jeans a jet black and his shoes black with dark red accents. His hair longer now, reaching down to his brow, while still keeping its reddish hue.

"Ha, another one that thinks they could hurt me?! That must be a joke, I'm unstoppable!" Judge screamed as he started to take another swing with his axe. "At least make this fight interesting, those other two were too weak!"

"Weak? Really? Then I guess they weren't really trying, shouldn't take much to kick you to the curb tin can!" Desmond yelled as he parried the axe and then shot a large dose of electricity at Judge causing him to reel back a bit.

"Aghh, at least it looks like you know what you're doing! But it was your mistake to come here, dieee!" Judge yelled out like a war cry, but before he could do anything a bright light blinded his vision. "What!? Agggghhhh! The light! My eyes, my eyes, my eyes!"

Desmond could see that a bright flash came from behind him, and he then heard a body fall. When he turned around he saw Nepgear on the ground, his anger subsided. With Judge out of the way for the moment he called out to IF and Compa "Let's get out of here, Compa grab Gear and let's move." And as he said they all left the area with Compa holding Nepgear.

After the group made their way to a different part of the graveyard Histoire contacted the group and they were transported back.

* * *

After a few days Nepgear finally woke from her sleep, and the others were filled in on what happened in the graveyard three years prior. Histoire also informed them that their next step was to gather shares, also to find the mascots from the nations and recruit their help.

The four were getting ready to head out, Desmond sat on the couch with his head downwards looking as if in thought. IF and Nepgear were in an adjacent room, while Compa was getting snacks ready for their trip. "I'm surprised to see Desmond still here, I would've expected you and Histoire to send him back to his world after we were captured." Nepgear said to IF.

"We were trying to speed up the time that he would have been sent back, but… he said not to bother with, that he wasn't going to go." IF responded with her arms crossed and back leaning against the wall.

"Really? Did he say why?" Nepgear asked.

"Yes, he did. Do you want to know?" IF said, Nepgear nodded. One story later. "and that's all he told me." She took a sigh before speaking again "Ever since you all got captured, his attitude has changed a little. I've noticed a few times during battle he goes in a frenzy, like he snaps. I've been able to stop him a couple of times it's happened, but not every time. When I haven't, it's been… well let's just say that I'm glad I'm not a monster. He's also been working at other nations as much as possible, I've even caught him staying up for days at a time trying to get the preparations ready for the Sharicite."

"So, that's why he stayed. If I see any strange mannerisms from him I'll let you know." Nepgear looked at the boy still on the couch. "I'm going to go talk to him." IF nodded as she watched Gear walk off. Nepgear got to the couch and sat next to Desmond with her hands in her lap and head forward "Hey, are you ok? You look a little down." She asked him.

Desmond slowly sat back up, looked at her and put on a small smile "I-I'm good, just a little tired is all." He then yawned and stretched his arms back. "But what about you? Being stuck in the same position for three years has got to be bad for your back or something." He chuckled softly "Anyway we need to focus all we can to getting the others back." His face gave off a serious vibe.

"Thank you, thank you for stay here and your help save us Desmond." Nepgear blurted out.

It caught Desmond off guard "W-what do you mean? Of course I'd stay and help what else would I do?"

Nepgear looked at him, her fingers poked together "IF told me about your past, I can't imagine how bad it must have been. I…"

Desmond put a hand on her shoulder stopping her mid-sentence "I'm ok, it's been what, about four years since it happened. I've had a long time to think about it and having someone to talk to about it helped me move past it as well. But that's also another reason why I stayed, I couldn't let anyone here or the other candidates lose anyone they cared about. I don't want any of you to know how it feels." She just nodded "Anyway, we probably should be heading out, the faster we get this done the faster we get everyone back." After saying this he stood up and walked closer to the door, Nepgear did the same as IF and Compa came into the room ready to go. "You two ready?" Desmond asked.

"We're good to go." IF responded.

"Yessy." Compa commented.

After leaving the group went to the guild to get a quest, then left for the Virtua Forest. The group walked for a bit before running into a group of dogoos. "There's some dogoos. Ready?" IF asked.

"Ready" The others called out together.

The group started to cut down the mass of dogoos jumping around, occasionally trying to attack our heroes only to get sliced down. After many of the dogoos were killed one hopped away and the chase was on. Once they caught up to the dogoo, it had grouped up with another herd of dogoos. They then started to unite to form a giant dogoo. "Did they just combine!?" Nepgear shouted.

"Oh, that's big. Gear, transform and we'll be able to get this done with fast." IF commented.

"T-Transform?" Nepgear replied.

"Ya, you know that thing that only you CPUs can do, it probably would be good for you to transform after being stuck for those three years." Desmond said.

"Iffy, Dez, you just wanna see Ge-Ge in her super pretty HDD form, don't you…" Compa stated.

"Well, I can't speak for IF, but I would like to see how well she can fight after being stuck for three years." Desmond replied, as he said that Nepgear was trying to transform then stopped and looked back at the three.

"I… I can't do it! I'm too scared!" Nepgear cried out.

Desmond looked back and forth between Gear and the Giant dogoo "R-Really? You're scared of this thing?" He released a sigh "Ok, I can understand a little, being trapped for all that time, your psyche might not be up to par yet. I'll take this one." He walked forward as the dogoo slowly jumped over. Desmond was about 15 yards away from it, lifted his hand, palm facing the beast and shot three balls of fire into the creature. After a couple of seconds after the flames entered the monster, Desmond closed his hand into a fist causing the fire to violently explode. Throwing pieces of dogoo goop everywhere for a second before it all dissipated into data.

"Ok, we're done here, let's go turn in the quest." He said as he walked in the direction of the dungeon exit.

"We're right behind you." IF commented as she followed.

* * *

After getting back to the basilicom, the group was greeted by Histoire. "Ah, perfect timing. I was able to locate the Planeptune Mascot."

"Awesome. Where?" Desmond asked.

"You will find it in the Virtua Forest. It seems the Mascot is hibernating there." Histoire answered.

"Huh, we were just there." Desmond thought out loud.

"Finally feels like we're taking action. Let's roll!" IF said aloud as she started to walk toward the door.

"Ya, let's go!" Desmond shouted as he followed suit.

Nepgear just stood staring for a couple of seconds.

"Ge-Ge are you ok? You look a little pale." Compa asked

Nepgear looked back at Compa realizing what she said "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm okay." After saying that the two girls chased after the other two group members.

* * *

After some time of searching and monster slaying, IF called out to the others "Is, that it over there? I think I see something!"

"Me, too! Wait… someone's already there." Compa pointed out.

"It looks like your right." Desmond added.

"Seems as though that person is trying to break… something… What the goodness!? Please stop!" Nepgear pleaded.

The person looked back at the group "Huh? Who the hell are you? You'd better stay outta my way, kids."

"Pffft. What!? Do I look like a kid to you?" Desmond asked dumfounded.

"Likewise, missy! What are you doing to the Mascot!?" Compa ignored his words and asked the girl a short distance away from them.

Desmond turned to IF "Seriously, do I look _that_ young? I'm like at least a head taller then everyone here." He continued his rant while everyone else ignored him.

The girl in the mouse jacket answered "Destroying it, duh. Orders from ASIC."

"You're a member of ASIC, then?" IF asked.

"Not like I got any reason to explain myself to you, but… All right, listen up! I'm a proud and mighty member of ASIC's front-line infantry. Don't you forget it!" She finished with a haughtily look to her.

"Front-line infantry? Wouldn't that make you just one of their expendable underlings?" IF said.

"Underling… well I was going to say a disposable tool, but I guess that works too." Desmond stated after finally ending his little rant. The other two girls agreed upon the new girl being an underling.

"What!? Where the hell do you get off calling me an underling, huh!?" Underling asked angrily.

"Underling's the only name you need, Underling. Now beat it." IF said.

"Could you please move out of our way, Miss Underling?" Compa joined in.

"If she's just an underling, maybe I could fight her…" Nepgear said with a little confidence in her voice.

"I agree with the others. If you died the higher ups wouldn't give a crap. So, ergo, underling." Desmond commented adding his two cents. "I'm gonna sit down over there, you three should be able to beat her just fine." He finished and walked back a bit.

"Underling this, and that! Enough already, you brats! Now you've really pissed me off! You'll regret calling me that!" Underling yelled out in a rage.

"Doubt that!" Desmond shouted in the distance.

Underling went up to Nepgear and hit her, knocking her down. "How is she this powerful!?" IF asked.

Compa tried to come up with an answer "Do you think it's because ASIC has so many shares from this area?"

"Possibly. But you three should still be fine." Desmond said loud enough for the others to hear.

"You're all bark and no bite at all. Now time to kill you one by one, starting with…" Underling started looking at Nepgear "Let's start with you, brat!"

IF called out to Nepgear "Watch out!" IF jumped in and took the hit. She then looked to Desmond "Could you help over here! I need to talk to Gear for a sec."

"Ok, fine with me." Desmond said as he stood back up.

"Like I'd wait for him to stop me from killing you!" Underling yelled as she swung her weapon. But before she could hit anyone a beam saber knocked her pipe back "W-what, how did you get over here so fast!?"

"Screw you that's how." A grin started to form across his face "It looks like it's my turn to play…" Underling held her weapon out in front of her, Desmond brought a finger up to the pipe. As he touched it he sent a large discharge of electricity which caused her to fly back several feet. He let out a sigh of content "Isn't it so nice to know how easily I could break and crush you into an oblivion." He slowly started to walk toward Underling. "IF, you might want to hurry and finish your little chat with Gear, before…" as he was speaking he looked back and saw… well something. It appeared that IF had kissed Nepgear, which led Nepgear to transform into Purple Sister. "Well, that was something… interesting." He said quietly to himself "Gear, you're up!" He shouted back before jumping back to IF's side.

Nepgear moved to fight Underling as she reached her she shouted, "I won't lose!" before attacking. It was a rather one sided fight that showed the victor being Nepgear.

Underling obviously hurt but still standing, looked rather aggravated "Dammit, that's unfair! Transforming and crap? C'mon!" she looked at the Mascot she then started making her way over to it "Screw you all and this Mascot!" She swung her weapon down and destroyed the Mascot, then quickly made her escape.

Desmond looked like he was in deep thought, but was brought out of it as he heard the mascot break, "Huh? Wa-? Oh, crap. If I was paying a little more attention I could have stopped her." He then brought his palm to the front of his head, sighed, and brought his hand back down. "Anyway, that was a good fight Nepgear. It's good to beat down an opponent like you did, but not everyone will be as weak as her and I noticed some movements that need to be worked on. So, after we get back we need to do some training." He stated with a small smile.

"T-Thanks. Ok." Was Nepgear's response to his words.

The group then heard a disembodied voice before seeing a bright purple orb. They then found out that it was the Planeptune's Mascot and without much said it gave power to Nepgear and disappeared.

"And just like that it's gone." IF commented while looking at where the orb just was.

"Yes. But we managed, all thanks to you, IF." Nepgear said

"It, was a little embarrassing, though." IF responded.

"No fair… Iffy got to act all brave and lovey-dovey with Ge-Ge…" Compa commented in a rather jealous tone.

"Yes, that was a rather interesting moment wasn't it." He looked at IF and a teasing grin formed across his face "I didn't know you swung that way, Iffy~."

"Wh-What!? What are you saying? That's not what's going on here! And I do not swing that way!" she stuttered with a reddened face.

"Are you sure, because from where I was standing it looked like you enjo…" Desmond teasing was brought to an abrupt end as IF knee came into contact with his crotch "… I-I was… not… expecting that… good hit… I'm just going to lay here… and take a nap." He then fell to the ground still writhing in pain.

"Now, let's go back and report what happened to Histoire." IF said as she turned from the man on the ground and then started to leave the dungeon.

"S-Shouldn't we carry him back?" Nepgear asked with a little worry in her voice.

"He'll be fine. It's not the first time that I've had to knock him down a peg or two, he'll catch up." IF answered still walking toward the exit. The other two girls followed suit.

* * *

After meeting, back up with Histoire and reporting what happened to her. The group decided to head to Lastation, to gain the Mascot's help. Shortly after arriving they decided to head to the guild. "Not many people here." Compa stated as the group walked in.

"This place must be under heavy control of ASIC. I hope we can get legit intel." IF pondered.

"Tsk… that might be true. I can't help but feel like it's partly my fault for not helping them here. But at the same time, it's not like the other nations are much better right now." Desmond said as crossed his arms.

"Hey, now don't think that. You helping three nations like that is insane enough. Heck, to keep one in line in this situation is hard enough. You did more than what anyone could as for." IF told him

"Thanks, I just did what I could." He responded.

"If you don't mind, while you're gathering information, I'll go and accept some quests." Nepgear stated awaiting acknowledgment.

"Ok Gear just don't take too long." Desmoned replied before she went off.

About 20 minutes later Nepgear told us that the quest she got, needed the group to go to Rebeat Resort. She also told them that she'll catch up to them, that she had to do something quickly. So, the other three headed toward the dungeon. About 10 minutes after the three got to the entrance, Nepgear and another girl arrived. "Who's this Gear?" IF questioned giving a watching eye toward the new girl.

"Wow, so you made a cute little friend while we were at the guild?" Compa asked while looking at the girl.

"Y-Yes, I met her at the quest desk. Her name is…" Nepgear started to answer.

"My name's Uni. We wanted the same quest, so we decided to do it together." Uni finished explaining the current situation.

Desmond just stood, looking at Uni 'Is that… maybe. She looks just like her, or at least for the most part. I guess I can ask her later, might as well get the quest done a soon as we can' he finished his thought and moved forward. "It's good to meet you Uni. I'm Desmond, this is IF and she is Compa." He said as he pointed to the two girls.

"Hello, I'll admit, I wasn't expecting other people to be with you Nepgear. But at least with the five of us this quest will be a piece of cake. Let's go." Uni commented as she started to move further into the dungeon, the others followed suit.

After some monster slewing the group stopped for a couple of minutes in the dungeon as Uni spoke up "There, all done! What did I tell you, easy or what?"

"We finished so fast… Uni, you really are strong." Nepgear said

"Same goes for you, Nepgear. Better than I thought, anyway. Nowhere near a match for me!" Uni quickly replies.

"What am I chopped liver over here? And of course, it was easy, these monsters are weak and there are five of us. But it is nice to see someone else here that knows how to use a gun." Desmond finished his small rant, that once again fell on deaf ears and sat on the floor. 'She even acts tsun, there's no way she's not Noire's sister.' He thought as he looked toward the two girls talking.

After a few minutes later the trio heard a couple of yells in the distance. "IF?! Compa?!" Nepgear and Desmond shouted in unison as they looked toward the direction the two were at.

Underling walked up to the group "Heh. I got rid of the Chaperones with barely any effort at all. Next up… you stupid little brats!" she started to walk closer before noticing Desmond who was starting to stand up "Crap, looks like I missed you. I guess it'll take a little longer than expected to kick you all to the dirt."

"Always with the quick mouth, huh. Shouldn't you know that pride comes before the fall, and you seem to have a lot of it." Desmond stated as he stood just behind the two girls with an uninterested look on his face.

"You won't be saying that when your beaten black and blue!" Underling quickly retorted.

"Who's this?" Uni finally asks.

"I think her name is Underling. She's one of the ASIC's low-ranking peons." Nepgear answers.

"Yes, Underling sounds right, nothing but cannon fodder for the higher ups." Desmond added.

"Argh! I told you to stop calling me that!" Underling angrily stated.

"Ha! Like were gonna stop calling you that, now that's funny." Desmond spoke back with a small chuckle at the end.

"ASIC, huh? Stay back, Nepgear, Desmond. Let me handle this one." Uni said with confidence.

"No way, I'm fighting too. I can't let her get away with hurting my childhood friends!" Nepgear stated with an extra boost of confidence herself.

"Hmm, I think I might stand back and watch the fireworks. You two should be able to take her down without breaking a sweat. Also, I want to take a closer look to see how well you two fight." Desmond said as he took a couple of steps back while crossing his arms.

"Hey, quit with the yappin', wouldja? You caught me off guard last time, but now I'll beat you to… a… huh?" Underling stopped mid-sentence as she saw two bright pillars before her. "Y-You're kidding me! What the hell, man!?"

Desmond looked on as a small smirk grew across his face, as he thought 'I was right, she is Black Sister. Well, that makes things a little easier. Well hopefully.'

The battle itself didn't last long, Uni shot a plethora of large energy blasts from her oversized gun, cannon, thing. While Nepgear danced around the shots while slashing at Underling. The battle didn't last longer that a couple of minutes.

"Dammit! This has to be considered cheating! Two CPU Candidates against one normal person! Y-You'll pay!" Underling pouted as she dashed off.

Desmond stepped forward clapping "Impressive ladies, you two work quite well together for people who just meet each other today. And I guess it's nice to formally meet you Black Sister."

Uni looked at Desmond shortly before turning her attention back to Nepgear "Nepgear… you're a…" She started.

"You too, Uni…? Then you must be Lastation's CPU Candidate! We came here to look for you!" Nepgear interrupted. "Could you please help us? We want to save the CPUs—our sisters—and protect Gameindustri…"

"Don't come any closer!" Uni abruptly shouted at Nepgear, as both her and Desmond looked dumbfounded "Why? Why are YOU here and not my sister, huh!?" Uni demanded.

"Oh… that's…" Nepgear started but was interrupted.

"She didn't let me go along with her three years ago… I could've saved them if I went! I could've done what you failed to do!" Uni unloaded on Nepgear.

"Hey, calm down Uni! Why are you bringing up the past, she's already been through enough, having her freedom taken from her for three years probably isn't fun." Desmond cut in trying to end the confrontation as soon as possible.

"I… I'm really sorry… I couldn't help back then, but… I'm doing my best to rescue them now." Nepgear replied with a partially sad tone.

"Shut up! I don't want to ever see you or hear your voice again!" Uni viciously screamed at Nepgear before dashing off.

"Wait, Uni!" Nepgear called out, but it was useless.

"Crap… that's not good." He saw IF and Compa starting to stand up "Gear, check up on IF and Compa, I'll be right back." She nodded before going to see the two. Desmond proceeded to take a few steps before teleporting around the area before finding Uni behind a building leaning against the wall. He then teleported next to her. "Hey Uni, what's up?" he asked startling Uni as she jumped slightly and pointed her weapon toward his sudden appearance. He quickly moved the barrel of the gun toward the wall as he took a step to the side. "Hold on, calm down, it's me. Desmond, ok, just put the gun down."

She eased up and dematerialized her weapon before giving him an annoyed look "What do you want?"

"Right to the point I see. I want you to reconsider Nepgear's proposal, it would great to have you be a part of our party. Also, you did take it too far during your little rant. If you were there instead of her, it wouldn't have ended any other way. Even if I was there I wouldn't have been able to do much myself, I was just getting a true handle on my abilities at the time. And think, all of the CPUs were taken down by one opponent, I really hate to talk about this, I've been here working through all this crap, trying to take care of three nations to the best of my ability without them. So, I know what you've been going through to a degree." Desmond finished his talk.

"No! No, you don't know what I've gone through. What it's like to have your sister taken from you for three years!" Uni backfired, eyes closed and hands clenched.

Desmond sighed before speaking again "At least your sister can still be saved. You didn't have to watch her slowly die in front of you at the hospital, able to do nothing to save her."

Uni stood there wide eyed "I… I-I di…"

"I'll stop you there, it's ok, I've moved on from what happened in the past. Losing my family hurts, but life still moves on whether you like it or not. So, I may not know exactily what it's like to have a sister taken and kept by the enemy, but I do know a feeling worse than that. That's a big reason why I'm trying to save them, so none of you have to experience that feeling. But also, because there all friends to me as well." Desmond said as he plopped his back to the wall.

"W-Wait, your friends with Noire?" Uni asked, giving him a perplexed look.

He shot her a wide grin "Yes I am. She was quite excited about it, even drops out of her tsun persona a little whenever I brought it up." He laughed a little remembering a few memories. "That's another reason for you to join us and apologize to Nepgear. Think of what Noire would want you to do, save her or sit in your room and pout." He moved away from the wall "Let us know whenever you make your decision, I'd say take as much time as you want. But we don't have that kind of time, so as soon as you can would be for the best. So, I'll leave you for now and don't worry, I won't tell anyone else that saw you."

"O-Ok, I-I'll think about it, just don't expect anything too fast. And I would appreciate that." Uni responded

He waved to her before teleporting back to the other three girls. Upon arriving he saw the that IF and Compa looked like they were back to their pain free selves. "Hey, you two feeling well?"

"Yes."

"Yessy."

"So, where have you been?" IF asked.

"I went to see if I could find Uni after she speed off to try to bring her back, couldn't find her though." He didn't want to lie to them necessary, but he needed an excuse and at least he told part of the truth.

"Ok. Let's head back to town and start asking people if they know where the Mascot is." IF stated before starting to head toward the head of the dungeon. The others followed behind her.

* * *

 **I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. If you haven't noticed yet I'm making Desmond an OP character. Also, his "teleporting" ability, is not teleporting in the traditional sense of it. He basically turns his body into an electric form and can move around fluidly and at the speed of lightning. So, in other words he becomes lightning to move around at insane speeds. I just wanted to make sure you all knew what I meant by him teleporting. Again, I hope everyone enjoyed it, leave a review and always have a good day.  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Welcome back to another chapter in this story.**

 **Conceited3: I have not seen Amazing Spiderman 2, so I don't know how electro works in that movie. So my thought process might be like that.**

 **PizzaCat2406: I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and that you liked the joke I put in. If you or anyone else didn't notice, it's a reference to Team Four Star's Hellsing Abridged. I just had to change it just slightly to make it more... PG.**

 **And without any further wait the chapter.**

* * *

The group left the dungeon and arrived back at Lastation, trying to figure out what to do next.

IF took a large sigh "Man… No option left. We'll pay a visit to this nation's Oracle."

"Oracle? Oh, that's right. Every nation has someone like Histoire to help the CPU, right?" Nepgear asked.

"Yes, though the other Oracles aren't book riding fairy like creatures, like Histoire." Desmond stated as he walked beside the others.

"But Iffy, why didn't we go to see the Oracle first if you knew she'd be able to help?" Compa questioned.

"Honestly, I still don't want to go. The Oracle here doesn't have the best reputation, so to speak." IF answered.

"That's true, I tried to help Lastation with any problems that they might have had, but I was turned away by her. She doesn't like outsiders messing with internal affairs, unless if absolutely necessary." Desmond stated.

The group arrived at the basilicom front door, with Desmond standing behind everyone in a semi-crouched position.

"What are you doing Desmond?" IF asked as the other two looked at him.

"I want to see if I can catch her of guard, she's always so business oriented. So, I was wanting to see if I could get some emotion out of her. So, make a wall would ya." He answered

IF sighed "Sometimes you can be as bad as Nep." She started to walk inside. "Pardon us."

"Hello" Compa greeted the Oracle.

"Welcome to Lastation's Basilicom. I am Kei Jinguji, the Oracle for this nation." She greeted them back.

Desmond jumped up from behind the three girls "HEY! What's up Kei? Long time no see… or talk… or anything. So how have things been?"

Kei appeared un-phased by Desmond's outburst "Yes, it has been a while hasn't it Desmond. And I already know that you have questions for me. Isn't that right, IF and Compa of Planeptune?"

"Huh? How do you know us?" Compa asked a little confused.

"And why don't you think Desmond has any questions?" IF asked

"Because he never comes by with any serious questions. Only unnecessary actions like a few moments ago. As for your question Compa…" Kei answered before getting cut off.

"She has a large info web around Lastation that keeps her well informed. Basically, ever since we entered Lastation she's been gathering info. It's one of the reasons that Lastation has been able to do so well without their CPU. Also, it is true that I the few other times I've come here I goofed around. And the last time I was in Lastation was… probably within the first month after the CPUs were captured." Desmond interjected before finding a nearby seat.

Nepgear finally spoke up "Um, we're looking for your nation's Mascot… Do you have any information on where it might be?"

"Whether I do or don't is irrelevant…" Kei spoke before getting interrupted again.

"Because there's a catch. There's always a catch with her." Desmond quickly stated from his seat, just before gaining a quick glance from kei.

She turned her attention back toward Nepgear "I'd first like to ask you how much my information would be worth to you."

"And there's your catch." Desmond said while leaning back in his seat.

"It's worth?" Nepgear questioned.

"Of course. Properly exchanging information through an agreed-upon value system is key to any business." Key explained.

"Like I said earlier business oriented." Desmond quickly stated.

"But we don't have a lot of credits…" Compa said.

"That's fine. Money is not required. Instead, I'd exchange the information for a… personal favor." Kei responded.

"What kind of personal favor?" IF asked curious.

"Our nation is currently developing a very special item. All we lack are some crucial materials. Perhaps you've heard of these? We need a Treasure Gem and a good chunk of Hematite." Kei anwered.

"What!? You realize how rare those are, don't you?" IF asked.

"How rare are we talking…?" Nepgear asked giving IF a slightly worried look.

"So rare that you won't find them at any regular vendor. There's no info about where to find them, either." IF responded. "This is an incredibly one-sided trade!"

"How unfortunate. Then, I suppose our negotiation is at its end. Perhaps I misappraised my intel's value to you." Kei stated.

Desmond stood back up, put a hand on IF's shoulder "A simple fetch quest huh? Ok, might take a little bit for those items, but we'll get them." He said while giving the Oracle a small smile.

"And one more thing. I also need to know what happened three years ago, and about the recent rescue attempt." Kei commented.

Desmond moved his arms to form an X "No can do. You know that wouldn't be a fair trade, equivalent exchange and all that." He took a few steps to stand in front of her folding his arms "These are your rules, aren't they?"

Kei looked at him unwavered and responded "A valid point. My apologies. Very well, then I would like to ask you to find those materials first. After that, we can exchange all the information we possess. That is quite a bargain, you know."

"Sounds good to me." He smiled at Kei before turning around and marching toward the door "Let's go ladies, time's a wastin'."

* * *

The party left the basilicom, IF not in her happiest of moods "That Oracle really knows how to grind my gears!"

"Yes, I know. But despite the rough exterior, she means well. So, let's hurry up and get those items." Desmond commented.

"Do any of you know where we can find Treasure Gems or Hematite?" Nepgear asked the rest of the party.

"Nope." Compa stated.

"Not a clue." Desmond responded while placing his hand on the back of his head.

"There was a rumor that some monsters collect rare gems." IF said.

Desmond brought his fist into his open hand "Then let's take down all the monsters in our path, I'm fired up now." He finished his talk and sped off to look for a dungeon to take on.

"Get back here Desmond!" IF shouted as she chased him.

"Wait for us!" Nepgear and Compa yelled as the followed the other two.

* * *

"Nothing at all…" Compa sadly stated.

"C'mon. If they were this easy to find, that Oracle would have them already. Desmond, get over here would you!" IF yelled out as Desmond was eliminating a couple of monsters before running back to the group.

"Calm down IF, no need to get worked up. But still nothing notable found. Ugh." Desmond said as he slouched a little.

"I guess running around without direction will get us nowhere fast…" Nepgear noted.

"Apparently so." Desmond said with a sigh.

"Why all the glum faces?" Came a voice from nowhere.

Desmond instinctively materialized his pistol and pointed it in the direction of the voice. "Don't move! Who are you!? Wait… I've seen you before." He put away his weapon and the girl relaxed a bit "I've seen you at the guilds in the other nations. I'm Desmond, it's nice to meet you formally…"

"I'm Falcom. I'm your average, everyday adventurer, as you can see. Also, I have this nasty habit of wanting to meddle in the affairs of troubled folks like you." She answered.

"Ok, Falcom, do you know where to find any Treasure Gems or Hematite might be? We've been looking around aimlessly like chickens with our heads cut off." Desmond asked

"Treasure Gem and Hematite, huh? Never heard of Hematite, but I know the Treasure Gem isn't around here. I think I heard more about the one in Planeptune. Was it Virtua Forest? A gem-collecting monster, maybe…?" Falcom responded.

"Are you serious?" IF shouted.

"I'd take you there if I could, but I'm already in the middle of some other errands. Sorry about that." Falcom stated.

"Oh no, that information is plenty! Thank you so much." Nepgear said enthusiastically.

"Yes, it helps a lot. Good meeting you, now let's go everyone." Desmond said before heading toward the dungeon entrance.

"Thanks bunches!" Compa called out to Falcom before catching up with the others.

* * *

The party made it to the Virtua Forest and moved to the depths of the dungeon. "What about Mister Scary Dragon Monster over there?" Compa pointed out.

"I get the feeling that's our target. Let's strike while we have the initiative!" IF commented.

"Right!" Nepgear agreed.

Desmond just nodded as he readied himself.

Compa and Desmond started first by shooting the dragon with their respective weapons as IF and Nepgear dashed forward to slice at its legs. After taking the damage the beast cried out and swung its massive hands at the two girls nearby. They dogged it's claws almost effortlessly, until Nepgear got hit by its tail while not paying attention to it. As she was thrown about the place Desmond teleported to the direction she was headed and caught her. After placing her back on the ground he dematerialized his pistol and formed his hand blade. "It's time we put down this oversized lizard." He stated before dashing off toward the beast. Once he reached it he cut off its hands in one fell swoop. The creature screamed in pain while Desmond just stared at it, clearly anger in his eyes. He then sliced off the legs of the beast, it cried out again. Then it tried to attack Desmond with a breath attack.

"Desmond!" Nepgear and Compa called out in worry.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine." IF calmly stated.

At first it looked like the fire attack had worked. Until Desmond stepped out from the fire unmarked and even more pissed off. "Die!" Desmond said in a low growl while holding forward his left hand. The air around the dragon started to spark slowly then rapidly increased before a giant lightning bolt came out of nowhere breaking apart the rest of the monster, disintegrating it. After it turned into data an item dropped, Desmond moved over to it and picked it up while still breathing a bit heavy.

"Are you ok?" Nepgear asked concerned.

"Ya, I'm good. That attack took a lot of power, more than necessary. So, it was a bit stupid on my part, lost control a little." He responded while rubbing the back of his head. "But we got the item so it doesn't matter."

"This is a Treasure Gem? Yippee! We finally got a gem thingy!" Compa shouted with glee.

"All that's left is the Hematite. We'd better hurry up and find it as soon as we can…" Nepgear stated also a bit happy.

"I'm afraid you'll never find it! You broads anin't goin' nowhere!" came a not so mysterious voice.

"Ugh, really her again? If they're going to send someone, why don't they send someone a bit more powerful. But she is just an underling and this is an underlings job sooo, whatever." Desmond said as Underling moved to make her presence known.

"Ugh. This one again. You're persistent for a bottom-teir peon, Underling." IF commented with annoyance.

"I feel sorry for you to have to come and lose to us so many times, Miss Underling." Compa stated.

"No matter the market, underlings have to handle all the hands-on grunt work, don't they?" Nepgear said.

"You might need some ice for those burns, Underling!" Desmond called out with a laugh. "Nice one Compa, it might not have been on purpose but that was a major burn."

"Ugh! Shut the hell up! I'm SO sorry for being who I am!" Underling viciously shot back. "Hmph. Not like it matters. After today, those gums will never flap again! Come out, secret weapon!"

"Finally learned that underlings like you need to come at us in droves, huh?" IF said as the group looked at the incoming machine.

"We can't afford to waste any time. I'll activate HDD and finish them all in one fell swoop!" Nepgear said with determination.

"Good idea Gear, let's get this over with already." Desmond stated.

"Man, kids are stupid! You really think I wouldn't have prepared for that nonsense?" Underling spoke with a smile.

"What the goodness!? Wh-What's going on…?" Nepgear questioned.

"Ge-Ge, is something the matter?" Compa asked curiously.

"I… can't activate HDD… Why…?" Nepgear wondered.

"Because I came prepared, idiot. This monster seals your ability to transform! Let's see ya fight now!" Underling haughtily said.

"A monster with a virus ability huh." Desmond deduced.

"Hold it right there!" Came an unknown voice.

"Huh!? And who in the hell are you!?" Underling demanded.

"How dare you treat such cute girls this way!" the small girl told Underling. "I've been eyeing them all as potential wifeys, so any more funny moves and you'll face the wrath of Red!"

"I feel like she completely ignored my existence." Desmond said with a sweat drop.

"What in the most unholy hell is this chick trying to say? Is she missin' some screws?" Underling questioned.

"You've got me on that one. She's an odd one that's for sure" Desmond for once agreeing with the enemy while sweat dropping.

"For my goddess, my CPU, my wifey! I am coming to save you!" Red shouted.

"Huh? W-Wait, what? Who, where… why!?" Nepgear stumbled over her words as she was all kinds of confused.

"Save those questions for the honeymoon, my lovely. We can go over everything after we deal with this!" Red declared.

"Hey! Be careful what you say girl, unless you want me going over there and slapping you myself. You can't just say something like that." Desmond stated.

The battle started the party first destroyed three M-3 Custom monsters and did so quite quickly.

"Gah! Taken down by a damn cliché kid who's got brawn and no brains! Dammit, you'll rue this day!" Underling yelled out as she sped off.

"You can't help but praise the woman for her ability to escape at the speed of light." IF commented.

"Ha ha, I guess your right about that IF." Desmond added with a small laugh.

"Um, thank you very much for your help. You came at just the right time…" Nepgear said with a cheerful tone.

"Heh! It's only natural to come to my future wifey's aid!" Red stated.

Desmond looked a bit annoyed at the answer from Red. "Hey what's with you?" IF asked.

"I don't like that she comes out of nowhere, basically said that she spied on us and is now saying those things toward Gear. I don't know if she's being honest or if she has some other secret agenda." Desmond answered.

"But you were perfectly fine with accepting Falcom's help." IF pointed out.

"Ya, that's because I had seen her at the guild multiple times. I had some sense of what she did. But with Red here, no clue. So, sorry for being a bit skeptical." He commented.

"You sound like an overprotective older brother." IF commented as she chuckled slightly.

"I'm not sure about that older brother part. But overprotective, I guess you could say I am. But look at what's happened since I've been here. One good month, then three years of attacks from the enemy. So, I think I'm allowed to be a bit overprotective of you all." Desmond stated as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a couple of seconds before reopening them "But, if she can prove herself to be on our side, then I won't mind having Red in the party. The more the merrier right."

"May I… ask who you are again? I don't think we've ever met…" Compa asked puzzled.

"Ya, this is totally, absolutely the first time we've ever met! In person!" Red declared.

"See, she admits to stalking us. Why should I not be concerned?" Desmond questioned IF.

"Just calm down there big boy. Just give her a chance, I don't think she's smart enough to create an elaborate plan to try to fool us anyway." IF responded.

"Fine." Desmond pouted a little.

"In… person?" Nepgear pondered.

"Call me Red. I'm traveling around Gamindustri to find my perfect wifey!" Red stated with pride.

All Desmond could do is bring his palm to his face while sweat dropping a little "If that's what she's doing, then we have no problems IF. At least she won't try to get in the way."

"Oh, wait. I've heard about some "unusual" girl who's always running around, looking for her soulmate…" IF said aloud to the group. "Are you telling me that's you?"

"Amazing! People spread rumors about me! That's super-de-duper!" Red was ecstatic.

"Are you sure about that? Some people might spread rumors that you're into men." Desmond joked.

If it were a t.v. show you'd be able to hear the record scratch "W-What!? What do you mean!? Who are you and when did you get here!? You'll never take my wifeys." Red declared trying to get between Desmond and the girls.

The man could only sigh in response at first, "I'm Desmond. Currently the head of the Planeptune army and I've been here this entire time. You were clearly ignoring me due to the girls here. Now, I'm not saying that there not good looking ladies but you should also pay attention to your surroundings if you don't want yourself to get killed in a place like this." The three girls looked slightly flustered at his complement. IF not showing it as much as the other two.

"Really?" She looked up and down at Desmond and then glanced back at the girls, then back at him "This is great!" the sudden outburst took everyone back a little "If you're in that of an important spot, then girls are naturally going to be near you. With the proof that you have these lovely wifeys in your party already. Then when they get in the party I can nab them and make them my wifeys."

"So, you're coming with us?" Desmond asked.

Red shook her head "I do hereby solemnly swear to protect my wifey with my lifey!"

"Ugh, fine. Just don't do anything stupid and everything will be fine." Desmond stated with slight annoyance.

"Yay! Huzzah, et cetera! Awesome! I hope we'll be together forever, my wifey goddess!" Red said with glee.

"Well at least it doesn't look like she's smart enough to try to have some ulterior motive." Desmond said quietly to himself.

"Um, I'm sorry, but could you please not call me a goddess like that? I'm only a CPU Candidate, you know. I'd be much more comfortable if you just called me Nepgear." Nepgear asked Red.

"Ooh, that's my girl! No need for me to be so formal with my wifey, right? Then… let's have some fun, Nepgear!" Red stated.

"Ok, everyone! Let's go find the Hematite!" Desmond declared, the group then started for the exit.

* * *

After the party made it back to Lastation they pondered on where they could find Hematite. A nearby guard heard the conversation and said that he saw a vain of the material in a nearby dungeon, and would give them the information if the group would kill a monster in the Rebeat Resort dungeon. The group found the monster and destroyed it.

"Yeeeeeeah! And that's that!" Red shouted in a cheerful tone.

"It didn't take much time at all, did it? Let's get back to that town." Nepgear commented.

"Okey-dokey. Huh…? Wait a minute, I see something over here…" Compa said as she looked away.

Everyone then saw a rather large rat "Yuck, that's one oversized rat. C'mon Compa, just leave it there." IF stated showing her disgust for the rodent.

"I agree with IF, Compa. No need to mess with something like that." Desmond said.

"No way! The poor baby looks hurt… Just hang on, Mister mouse. Let Nurse Compa patch you up." Compa declared with confidence.

"Ch-Chu…?" The creature said, as it looked like it was still out of it.

"How do you feel, Mister Mouse?" Compa asked the oversized rodent. The creature squealed for a moment "What's wrong?"

"Chu! Er, um… C-Can I get your name…?" The rat asked.

"Of course! I'm Compa. It's nice to meet you, Mister Mouse." Compa said politely.

"Compa… Compa, huh…? Mmmmm, chu!" the rodent said before running off.

"Where are you going?" Compa asked but received no answer.

"That mouse was… talking, right? I'm not hallucinating, am I…?" Nepgear questioned.

"No, you're not hallucinating. That was odd." Desmond responded scratching his head a little.

"Monster, or something else? Oh well, whatever. Compa, you ready now? Let's go." IF stated.

"Aw, Mister Mouse…" Compa said a little sad. The group then left to go back to the city.

* * *

After gaining information about where the Hematite would be the party set out for the Septent Resort. After moving through the dungeon, they finally found their target. "There. That must be the cat monster we were told about." IF stated.

"Let's hurry up and get that Hematite!" Desmond called out as he dashed toward the monster.

"Halt, cretin! Drop the Hematite, nice and slow…!" Uni shouted out of nowhere. Which caused Desmond to stop and look behind him, it looked like Uni hadn't noticed him yet.

"Huh?" Nepgear was taken back by Uni's sudden appearance.

"Hmm? Ack! N-Nepgear!?" Uni jumped in without look at who she was ambushing in the first place.

"Yay, it's Uni! You were looking for Hematite, too?" Nepgear asked in a cheerful tone.

"W-Well, yeah, but what do you think you're doing here!?" Uni demanded at first before her words quickly softened as she stuttered "Erm, uh, I mean, what I meant was… I'm sor-… No, wait… I'm not mentally prepared for this…"

"I'm so happy that you're doing well. I mean, we left on such a sour note and all. Did Miss Kei ask you for help, too? Why not team up again and beat the mean cat monsters together?" Nepgear asked.

"D-Don't get ahead of yourself! I… I have something to say to you, y'know. S-So, like, you listening? I'm only gonna say this once in your lifetime, so pay attention." Uni slowly got out.

"Yippee! I'm so happy you're here! Now I know we'll get the Hematite without any trouble! Desmond look Uni's here!" Nepgear cheered with glee.

"H-Hey, I thought I told you not to get ahead of yourself! Wait, did you say Desmond was here?" Uni asked.

Desmond standing behind her, placed a hand on her shoulder. Which caused her to stiffen a bit "I'm right here. It's good to see you again Uni, after everything that happened before."

Uni jumped away from Desmond, she looked slightly flustered and a bit angry "Why do you keep sneaking up on me like that? Would you stop it! Screw it! Y-You'll never get your precious Hematite and live to tell the tale!"

"Huh? Why are you being a bully? Are you… still mad at me…?" Nepgear questioned felling a bit sad from Uni's attitude.

"I think she's just as mad at me as she is at you. If that makes you feel any better Gear." Desmond tried to comfort the girl.

"Shut up, you dolts! I said you won't get it, so you won't get it! Never!" Uni declared.

"Y-You're being so mean today… Fine! You can't have it, either!" Nepgear said a bit pouty.

"Wait, what? You're mad at me now? Then, let's just find out who can get to it, shall we!?" Uni challenging the others, mostly Nepgear.

"Ugh, you girls can be a pain sometimes you know." Desmond said as he looked at the two. After a few minutes the monsters that were waiting patiently started to go haywire.

IF called from nearby the monsters with Compa "Gear, stop arguing and help us take care of this! Desmond get over here too."

"I'll be there!" Desmond stated as he ran over.

"Huh? What the goodness!? The monsters are on a rampage! I'm on my way" Nepgear said as she made her way to the monsters.

"Hey, wait! I didn't say we were done talking!" Uni shouted but it fell on deaf ears.

The battle was a short lived one and in the end one of the cat monsters dropped a Hematite. "Great. We have Hematite now, too. Have you two kids calmed down yet?" IF asked the two girls.

Nepgear was the first to speak up "Yes… I'm sorry about that…"

"Then everyone is happy and healthy! Let's go back to Miss Kei, and…" Compa started but was cut off.

"Wait." Uni cut in before transforming "Nepgear, let's have a duel. If I win, I want you to hand the Hematite over to me."

"Jeez, you two are still going…?" IF asked.

Desmond placed a hand on her shoulder "It's fine. It'll do them both some good to get a good battle in between the two of them. Some think that you can understand a person more in the heat of battle. Also, if Uni is anything like Noire, and it looks like she is, she is very prideful. So, let's just let it happen."

"I need to defeat you fair and square, Nepgear." Uni declared.

"I see. I accept your challenge." Nepgear answered. The two then stood across from each other prepared for the duel.

"The battle ends when one of you concedes, I consider you knocked out enough to not keep going, or if nurse Compa says one of you is not in good condition to do so, ok." Desmond ask the two girls and they nodded.

Nepgear activated HDD before Desmond brought down his hand that signified the start of the match. At the start, Uni immediately fired multiple small energy orb shots that spread across in a horizontal pattern. Nepgear jumped upward and fired a beam toward Uni. Uni dodged the attack to the side firing another volley of energy orbs toward Nepgear. Nepgear dashed toward Uni as she slashed through the energy orbs. Once she got up to Uni her gun blade was blocked by Uni's gun, she then kicked Uni back. Uni holding her gut for a moment then jumped up and fired a large beam toward Nepgear. Nepgear moved to her left but the blast still hit her a bit and knocked her sideways. After standing back up she barely had enough time to dodge a couple more of Uni's blasts. Nepgear then sped forward once again to Uni. Once she was within a few feet she kicked away Uni's gun then she continued to slice around Uni in a dancing fashion. In the end Nepgear was victorious.

"The winner of the duel is Nepgear." Desmond declared the results.

"I lost… I'm still too weak…" Uni muttered.

"I win." Nepgear cheered.

"H-Hmph. I let you win, of course. But I'm only gonna do that once, you get me!?" Uni commented in a huffy fashion.

"Are you saying that you went easy on her after telling her not to go easy on you? I don't believe you would do that, you have too much pride. Or are you saying that you hastily asked for the duel and then let her win to be nice?" Desmond asked.

"S-Shut up!" Uni yelled before storming off.

"Is this really what you wanted to do, Ge-Ge?" Compa asked.

"I… don't know. Uni…" Nepgear said as she looked in the direction that Uni ran in.

"Don't worry about her, she took a shot to her pride so just give her some time and she'll come around. In the meantime, let's get back to Kei." Desmond stated as he walked toward the exit.

* * *

The party walked into Lastation's basilicom and up to Kei as she spoke up "We meet again. It seems as though you even procured the materials that I requested."

"Big Brother is watching us, huh?" IF said.

"Well of course she is, like I said she's got eyes everywhere, or close enough to it." Desmond interjected before walking up to Kei and handing her the materials.

"Miss Kei, could you tell us where to find the Mascot now? It's been so long, we really need to hurry…" Nepgear pleaded.

"If it's been so long, what's a few more moments? It probably won't change the situation tremendously." Kei stated.

"You want to hear about what happened at the graveyard don't you?" Desmond asked as Kei nodded. He then looked at Nepgear "Gear, would you please?"

One explanation later.

"I see. Noire is still alive. That's a weight off my shoulders." Kei said as she looked relived.

"If you were that worried, why couldn't you have been a tad more cooperative?" IF asked.

"She probably had a plan in ready but needed those materials. So, she asked for us to get those first. Am I correct?" Desmond deduced.

"Yes. Now it's time to fulfill my end of the deal. Here. I wrote down the last known whereabouts of the Mascot." Kei stated.

"Thank you very much. We can finally…" Nepgear started before getting cut off.

"But let me warn you of something. Your request will more than likely be denied outright." Kei said.

"What do you mean by that?" Desmond asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." Kei responded.

After that the group left the basilicom to head to the location on the paper, Septent Resort.

* * *

The party cut down the monsters in their way to make it far into the dungeon. They were close to where their instructions said that the Mascot would be.

"Oh, Mister or Miss Mascot… Come out, come out, wherever you are." Compa called out as the group walked.

"It should be around here somewhere…" IF said as they looked.

"There! I think that's the Mascot. Excuse me, Lastation's… Mascot…?" Nepgear asked.

"Oh, look it's the all wise and powerful orb/disc. Praise the sun, I mean orb." Desmond joked, which earned a slap from IF. "Ow."

"Quit screwing around, this is important." IF commanded.

"Fine, fine." He responded.

The disc lit up and spoke "Hmm? Planeptune's CPU…? No… The CPU Candidate…"

"This Mascot is wide awake." Compa commented.

"Must mean that the shares situation is a lot worse here than in Planeptune." IF stated.

"Probably so…" Desmond added.

Nepgear spoke back up "Um, so basically… We'd like you to come with us!"

"How sudden. Do you truly believe that I would follow you without first confirming your intentions?" The disc asked.

Desmond looked at it with a hand to his chin "Hmm, well it does have us there. I mean I know I wouldn't go off with a group of people if I didn't know that they were good. You know what I mean IF?" She just shot him a glare and he brought up a hand "Ok, ok. I'll stop."

"The CPUs are all held captive in the Gamindustri Graveyard, and we need your help to save them all!" Nepgear explained.

"I see. I sensed unusual fluctuations, but hearing that all the CPUs are being held captive is a shock. If true, that only strengthens my argument to not accompany you." Black Disc stated.

"Why's that?" Desmond asked with his arms crossed.

"My sole purpose is to protest this nation during the CPU's absence. Leaving now would cause the nation to lose any and all divine protection yet remaining." The disc said.

"So, you're basically the backup generator for the nation?" Desmond questioned.

"Yes, that is a correct assumption." The disc answered.

"So you're saying it's fine to let the CPUs be held captive." IF said.

"As I said, my purpose is merely to act as the CPU's proxy in her absence. Not instigate a rescue attempt." Black Disc responded.

Compa was distracted by noises she heard from behind the group when she turned around she found something "Huh? Oooh, it's Mister Mouse!"

"You… remember me? That makes me so happy, chu!" Warechu was elated

"Not now. We're in the middle of something here." IF commanded.

"Leave rat. There's no reason for you to be here." Desmond stated in a cold tone.

Warechu spoke back "You shut up, chu! There's nothing more important in this world than Compa! Whoooooa! I-I-Is that the Mascot!?"

Desmond tried to ignore the rodent and focus back on the conversation that Nepgear and Black Disc were having.

"Mister Mouse, you know about the Mascots?" Compa questioned.

"I'm so lucky, stumbling on both my angelic Compa and the Mascot! I have a great idea, Compa. Let's beat the crap out of that Mascot together, chu." the rat stated.

"Huh? Beat it up…? Why would you say that?" Compa asked.

"If we smash the Mascot, we'll get a massive reward, chu! And if you help, my dear Compa, I'll help you join ASIC as a special VIP member." the rat answered.

"Don't do something mean like that to the Mascot if you do, then all of Gamindustri will…!" Compa started.

"Exactly! Gamindustri will be one step closer to being under total domination through ASIC, chu! With no CPUs and nobody left to believe in 'em, Gamindustri will be completely under our control!" Warechu commented.

"Bad Mister Mouse!" Compa yelled at the oversized rodent.

"C-Compa?" Warechu questioned not entirely sure what just happened.

"I've been traveling with my bestest friends to help save the CPUs, so… Th-That makes us enemies! I really hate bad people, and bad monsters, and anyone who makes Gamindustri a bad place!" Compa stated.

"H-H-Hate!? You hate me!? Boo-hoo-hoo-chu!" Warechu whined. "I'm gonna get rid of you all in the name of ASIC, chu!"

"Are you sure about that?" Desmond questioned as he turned around to look at the rat. "You said that you could take us down. A nurse with a giant as hell syringe, a top tier guild member that could run circles around you before you even knew what was happening. Oh, and let's not forget the CPU Candidate I don't think I need to say any more there. And then there's me." Desmond slowly stepped forward as flames poured from his right hand and footprints of fire were left in his wake, his right eye became bright red, as everyone felt the air escalate in temperature. "The man who when pissed off enough has wiped what might as well be at least an army amount of people out of your precious ASIC! And also tends to let out anger out on the first hostile thing that he sees! So, what is it that I see!? A worthless little rat that has aligned itself with the wrong people and is about to experience my wrath!"

He finally dashed forward and grabbed ahold of Warechu with left hand, slammed it into the ground before punching it with his right hand enveloped in flame. After sending the rat flying, he sped after it. After catching back up to Warechu, Desmond tossed the rat back on the floor and started the ground and pound. After about 20 seconds of punches, Desmond stood back up and stepped back a few feet before punting Warechu with an electric charged foot. Desmond stood as he watched the rodent fly into the distance, and calmed his breathing.

Nobody else had moved from their spots, from beginning to end of the beating that was placed upon the rat. The disc was the first that spoke "So… that was one of the evils plaguing Gamindustri?"

"Ya. And now that stupid rat knows exactly where you are." IF answered.

"So it would seem. Perhaps it would be wise of me to go into hiding for the time being." Black Disc stated.

Desmond walked up to the group and spoke up "I know you're basically this nation's last line of defense so to speak. But why not come with us? We could protect you to ensure the enemy can't destroy you."

"I already said such a request cannot be granted." The disc responded. "But I can lend you a portion of my power CPU Candidate. Though I can offer little, I ask that you help the CPUs and all of Gamindustri."

"Thank you so very much! We'll make sure to save everyone!" Nepgear said with confidence.

* * *

After receiving the portion of power from the disc the party went back to Lastation's main city, then to basilicom to give their report.

"Well done. I'm surprised to hear that such a stubborn Mascot agreed to lend you some power." Kei said.

"Hey, hey, hey, Kei. It would be nice if you didn't spy on us all the time." Desmond said half-jokingly.

"Our next step is to visit Lowee, but before that, could we meet with Uni one more time?" Nepgear asked.

"Hmm? That's really up to her, since she dramatically dove under my desk the moment you all arrived." Kei answered.

"Hey! Don't be a stool pigeon!" Uni yelled annoyed.

"Ya, Kei. If you do that you'll ruin our game of hide and seek." Desmond stated, as everyone but Red looked at him while sweat dropping "What!? It's a joke, yeesh."

"Oh, hi, Uni! I'm so glad I got to see you." Nepgear stated happily.

"Uh, h-hi, Nepgear…" Uni started but stopped.

"I know I asked already, but… Uni, won't you come with us and help save our sisters?" Nepgear questioned.

Uni took a quick glance at Desmond, remembering their talk on the subject before answering "No! At least… not yet."

"I see…" Nepgear said dejected as she started crying softly.

"Wh-What!? Why are you crying!?" Uni asked a bit off guard.

"B-Because, we became good friends, but all we do is fight… and now, we… we'll never be BFFs, and…" Nepgear responded still teary eyed.

Desmond placed a hand on Nepgear's shoulder "Calm down Gear. I'm sure Uni just has some things to take care of here first, right Uni?"

"O-Oh, ya. Our spat has nothing to do with it. Hey, why are you talking like we'll never see each other again?" Uni replied.

"Huh? So… you wanna hang out later?" Nepgear asked looking already visually happier.

"Tch. W-Well, maybe when I feel like it, maybe I'll… you know, think about it a little. Maybe." Uni responded stuttering through most of the sentence.

"Really? For really reals!? It's a promise, okay!?" Nepgear asked cheerful again.

"I… I said if I feel like it, and not … ugh! Fine, fine. I promise, okay?" Uni answered.

"Quite the character, aren't we? I never thought I'd see the day when Uni could look so… happy." Kei stated.

Desmond walked next to Kei and place a hand on her shoulder "I know, who would have thunk it." He gave a large grin toward the girl in question as he joked.

"Hey! Wipe those stupid smirks off your faces right now!" Uni demanded Kei and Desmond. "And you can't be saying anything anyway Desmond, you barely know me!"

"But I know you're enough like Noire to know that you probably don't let your happy face out around other people that much." Desmond remarked with his index finger in the air.

"Ge-Ge, we should get going." Compa told Nepgear from behind.

"Although necessary, I do apologize for keeping you here for so long. Best of luck on you travels." Kei stated as she gave a small bow.

"Stop it. You creep me out when you say anything remotely selfless." IF responded to the kindness of the Oracle.

"I don't, I kind of like it. It allows us to know that there's a person underneath all the hard exterior that makes up Kei." Desmond stated with a small smile. The party started to head to the door before Desmond called out to them "Give me a minute! I have some business to discuss!"

"Ok!" the group hollered back.

He turned to the Candidate "Thanks for being nice to Nepgear and not running out of the room. She's been a bit worried that you hatted her, so that helped. Not like you had any choice when she started crying though." He finished with a small chuckle.

"N-No problem… Some of this could have been avoided. I-I tried to apologize the last time I saw you, but you two kept interrupting me and got me angry." Uni responded.

"And I'll apologize for that. Kei it's been fun" Desmond stated as he gave a wave.

"Yes, but next time try to be more serious." Kei said.

"Can't make any promises. I mean, what would you do for fun around here without me." Desmond stated as he laughed and turned to head for the door before stopping after a few feet "Uni. Don't forget what I told you. You can join up with us any time, your always welcome." Before hearing a response, he walked out the door and joined back up with the group.

"What were you talking about in there." IF questioned.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Like I said business, so just keep your noisy nose out of it." He responded while waging his finger back and forth. He looked around at the sky "Hey, it's starting to get late and we have a long trip to Lowee. So how about we go to a hotel and get some rest."

"That sounds great!" Nepgear replied and the rest of the girls nodded.

* * *

After going to a hotel and being placed into a suite with two bedrooms, the party went to check it out.

"You ladies choose rooms. I'll take the couch." Desmond stated as he opened the door to the suite.

"Wow, this is big!" Red said as she skated around the room.

"Ya, how much did this cost?" IF questioned as she looked around.

"Hey, you're not supposed to ask for the price of a gift, are you? But I can say it wasn't cheap. Thankfully I've been saving some money for a while and doing quests for basically three straight years tends to build up a lot of credits."

"Thanks for getting us this super-duper Room Dez." Compa said with sincerity.

"T-Thank you!" Nepgear said while bowing slightly.

"Hey, you don't need to do that. This is the least I can do. Who knows what would have happened to me it Noire and Neptune hadn't found me and let me stay at the basilicom with her and Gear. And Compa, you and IF have taught me countless things about this world. So, there's no need to thank me." Desmond stated.

"Wow, a nice moment from him without anything at the end to mess it up, remember the feeling girls it doesn't happen often. IF said with a chuckle.

"Just because I tease you more than the others doesn't mean that I don't love you, now come here and give me a hug." Desmond joked as he moved closer to IF to try and hug her.

"See, what I mean! He's acting like an ass again!" IF yelled annoyed.

The other girls could only chuckle softly at the display that they were seeing. After taking a few punches, Desmond finally stopped and apologized. He then turned to Red "Hey, come with me Red. We got to go get some stuff."

Puzzled for a moment Red spoke "Why me? I'd rather stay here with my wifeys."

"No, you're coming with me to get dinner, so let's go." Desmond commanded and Red followed his lead.

The two walked the streets of Lastation, the sun was setting and the streets were sparsely populated. "Where are we headed?" Red asked.

"To the grocery store. There's a kitchen in that room, so I can make something. It's one of the reasons I got a room like that." Desmond answered.

Red's eye sparkled for a second "You can cook!? That's great! You could bring in so many wifeys that way!"

"Ya, and on the subject of "wifeys" why do you like females?" Desmond pondered.

"I like what I like. And I like wifeys. Is there something wrong with that?" Red answered and questioned as she looked at the boy.

"Not necessarily, I just like to get to know my teammates. And I wondered if it was a reason that was a bit more interesting, like you had a really bad boyfriend that completely turned you away from men or something." He responded.

"Hmmm, well men tend to be rude, mean, and not nice to my wifeys. So, maybe that's another reason." Red stated.

"Ok, what do you think of me?" Desmond asked.

Red looked up and down the boy with deep thought "Hmmmmm… I'm not sure yet. You seem nice and you're good enough to get several wifeys around you already. So, maybe there's hope for you yet! I know! I could make you my partner in getting wifeys!"

Desmond laughed for a bit before responding "That might actually not be too bad of a deal there Red. But first let's get dinner and get back, like I said earlier we have a long trip to Lowee in the morning."

Red jumped on Desmond's back, almost knocking him down in the process "Let's go partner!" she shouted as she pointed forward. Desmond started to sprint down the sidewalk to go along with the fun.

* * *

 **And that's another chapter down. I hope you all enjoyed it. Leave a review and let me know how I'm doing. As always have a good day.**


	10. Chapter 10

Everyone woke up the next morning raring to go and further their progress. And after eating breakfast, they made their way to Lowee. After some time, they finally made it to the snow-covered city.

"Here I am, Lowee! And I made it here first, so I win!" Red shouted as they entered the city.

"Calm down there. It wasn't a race, so there's no need to get all excited. But I suppose we should be quick about things." Desmond deadpanned as he entered with everyone else.

"Wow… it's so… cold, bout the scenery really takes your breath away…" Nepgear stated as she looked around the place.

"C'mon, it's not that cold, is it? But of course, I always been a little bit immune to the cold." Desmond asked.

"Lowee is covered in snow all year. We should all buy some warm undies to keep the cold away!" Compa stated.

"Only if we have time to spare. We need to gather info, pronto." IF declared.

"I agree. To the Guild, then?" Nepgear questioned.

"No. Straight to the Basilicom. I haven't heard anything bad about the Oracle here, so we'll be fine." IF answered.

"It is true that the Oracle here is nicer. That doesn't always mean that she'll cooperate 100% with our way of doing things." Desmond stated as he looked at IF. "But, it'll be fine so let's hurry."

The group walked through the streets of Lowee for a bit before Nepgear asked a question "I take it the Basilicom's up this road?"

"It is. It won't be long before we're there." Desmond responded.

"Lookit, everyone! Someone's making a real commotion. Let's check it out!" Red declared while pointing in the direction of the noise.

"We don't have time to get sidetracked, so… huh? That's…" IF started.

"Underling." Desmond interjected as he deadpanned "Why does it always have to be her. Ugh. Let's see what she's up to." The party walked over to be within earshot of what Underling was saying. It looked like she just finished making a sales pitch.

"Why the hell do I have to do the sales pitch grunt work? Passing out flyers and crap. I wouldn't have gotten stuck doing this if it weren't for those stupid brats!" Underling complained.

"Excuse me, are we the brats you're talking about?" Compa asked nonchalantly.

"Ya, the dumb blonde chick, the transforming baby, the snob, the "wifey" musclehead and the electric brute." Underling said without realizing who she was speaking to.

"Snob, huh? I didn't know that having proper manners came across that way." IF stated.

"Transforming baby…? Do I really look that little?" Nepgear questioned.

"Wifey musclehead? Don't be hatin' just because you're not on my hit-that list!" Red complained.

The three looked at Desmond expecting him to say something "Huh? What? She kind of hit the nail on the head. I have electric powers and I can go a little overboard sometimes." The three sweat dropped at the last part of his sentence.

"Uh-huh… H-Hey, it's you all! Oh, what the hell!? When'd you get here!? How'd you find me!?" Underling questioned.

"We weren't loking for you, but this commotion makes you stand out. And now we can't let you get away." IF declared.

"Ya, your yelling tends to be annoying. But it does help in tracking you down." Desmond deadpanned.

Underling was looking around, worried a bit at the situation "Dammit, this could be real bad… Hey, you! Stray kid!"

"Hey, don't call kids strays, they're not animals." Desmond stated.

Underling finally grabbed ahold of a nearby kid "Don't move, you're my ticket outta this mess. Heh, you all better not try anything, or the kid gets it!"

"Back to basics, huh? How cliché." IF said.

"Let her go! She has nothing to do with any of this!" Nepgear shouted.

"Shaddap! ASIC is all about playing dirty, y'know? Now, if you'll excuse me…" Underling responded before running off.

"Wh-What should we do!? Miss Underling just kidnapped a little girl…" Compa asked with concern.

The air grew warmer and clouds started to form in the sky, the girls noticed the weird change in the weather before looking at Desmond whose head was tilted slightly to the side and looked all too calm and almost dead eyes "Hahahahahaha. You don't think you'll be able to get away do you girl." He straightened his head and licked his lips, as a large grin grew across his face "Hehehehe. But I guess it's nice to hunt for your prey every now and then." Then a large bolt of electricity hit him from the sky, he than dashed off in the direction that Underling had gone.

After saying that the girls were… a bit worried. And with good reason, none of them have seen him look this… insane.

'Did he know the girl that was kidnapped? He did stay here a lot during the three years.' IF thought, trying to find a reason for the sudden change in Desmond. "Let's follow him girls!"

"Right!" the others said in unison as the ran on.

After a while of running Underling finally stopped after she thought that she had gained a safe distance. "Okay… I should be safe here…"

"Founnnnnndddd yoouuuuuuuu!" Desmond said with sickening growl and an evil grin, as he slowly walked forward.

The rest of the party wasn't too far behind the first to say anything was Red "Halt!"

"Come on! Already!?" Underling questioned annoyed that they got there so fast.

"Let the kid go and you can walk away from this unharmed." IF declared.

"She will let her go. But she is not getting away from here unharmed!" Desmond growled.

"You nuts? This kid's my ticket outta here! Or are you gonna fight me when I got a tiny human shield?" Underling stated.

"Um, well…" Nepgear started as she thought of the situation.

"So what was our plan, again?" Red asked.

"I don't think we thought very hard about this…" Compa replied.

Rom noticed someone in the group and called out "Help me big brother…"

After a few moments, a silence Underling spoke up "Hahahahah! You're all idiots! I mean, really? You didn't even have a plan? Give me a break!"

"I have a plan. It's to kick your ass, ground you into the dirt and then roast you alive, till you're nothing but ash and bone." Desmond stated rather gruesomely.

The rest of the group sweat dropped at the sound, IF then spoke up "W-We're not doing that."

Underling spoke up again "I still can't believe you didn't have a plan. As for me… I think I packed one… Yeah. Okay, come on out! That's your opponent for today. Just remember which of us has the upper hand this time! Hahaha!"

"I do know who has the upper hand." Desmond said in a gruff voice, before striking the machine with lighting from the sky obliterating it with one hit."

"Wh-What the hell!? How the hell did you do that!?" Underling demanded.

"Like I said, you will not leave here unharmed." Desmond said in a voice all too calm and a piercing glare.

Suddenly a voice came from above "Let Rom go, NOW!"

"Huh? From above?" Underling questioned as she was hit by the person who owned the voice.

"Rom! Are you okay!?" Ram asked.

"Ram! Raaaam!" Rom cried as she ran to her.

"No freaking way! Another CPU!?" Underling questioned.

"How dare you make Rom play hostage and make her cry! You'll pay, dummy! C'mon Rom, you activate HDD, too. Let's beat this big jerk all the way to last week!" Ram stated and Rom activated HDD.

"Wh-What in the holy crap!? Not one, but two more CPUs!? This is getting so messed up!" Underling said baffled.

Shortly after that a battle broke out, which was short lived with the overwhelming power of the party plus Lowee's Candidates.

"I'll get you next tiiiiime…!" Underling shouted before starting to run off, but was caught by a pissed off Desmond. In the meantime, the rest of the girls were talking and arguing a bit. IF though had noticed Desmond off in the distance and quickly tried to get to him.

Desmond grabbed Underling by the neck and pinned her to the wall "Who said you could go anywhere? I said that you weren't leaving without some harm done and I don't think they did much harm. Sooooo…" Desmond spoke calmly before he formed his hand blade with his right hand. "What should I do first… tsk, tsk, tsk… should I start by removing your limbs as you scream out before silencing you? Or should I just burn you alive? Hmmmm… so many options. How would you like to die? I'll take your request." He finished with venom in his tone.

"What are you crazy!? Good guys don't go around killing people!" Underling shouted freaking out.

"Hmmm. That's right good guys don't do that… but here's the difference between your thoughts and the real world. There is only evil people and then there is those that silence them. It could be in many different means, they could be jailed, just peacefully stop, put on trial, or killed. So that means that there are no "good guys" just people that need to be stopped and those to stop them. And you making Rom a hostage, just makes me want to put you down even more. So… without any further wait… it's time for your demise." Desmond brought down his blade toward Underling before he was stopped by a loud yell and someone grabbing him.

"Stoooop! Desmond, what do you think you're doing!? You can't let your anger control you! Come on and quit it!" IF said as she hugged Desmond from the back while also trying to hold back his right arm, by grabbing his shoulder. "You told me to stop you before you went and did something like this, so I'm making good on my promise."

Desmond stood motionless for a few moments still holding Underling by the throat. He let out a large sigh before getting rid of his hand blade. "You're right, I did say that. Thank you. But I still made a promise that she was not leaving her unharmed, so." He materialized a knife and brought it to Underling's cheek "I'll leave her with a small reminder, what happens when someone attempts to harm someone that I care about. And let it be shown to all of her coworkers in her organization to stop their foolish crap." Before IF could say or do anything Desmond brought the knife down on Underlings face, from just underneath her left eye, to the lower part of her cheek bone as she cried out in pain. "Don't worry, the worst that'll do is scar. Now I suggest that you leave and tell others to keep away and quit ASIC. If not we can just arrest you, then put you on trial for war crimes." He stated as he released Underling "And you better leave fast before I change my mind and kill you."

Underling quickly sped off while holding the left part of her face. "Why did you let her go?" IF asked.

"Like I told her… to get rid of more ASIC members by telling them what we can do. Divide the enemy through fear. That's what I wanted to do. Tear apart any form of confidence they might have. Plant seeds of doubt within their minds, get them thinking. And get rid of any hope they still cling too. I have used this tactic before. I've fought them enough that it can get boring sometimes. So, if I can get some members to leave, the easier it is for me." He responded as he laid his back against the wall.

IF thought about it for a moment before responding "Ok, I see what you mean… I don't think I could do that, forcefully making people fear me. but I understand. Also, why did Rom call you her brother? ... … Did you and Blanc get married without anyone else knowing?"

"What? What are you talking about? I just took place of the older sibling role, taking care of the twins while Blanc has been away. Don't think up something ridicules. I only knew her for about a month, no way something like that would happen." Desmond explained.

"Well, that makes more sense at least." IF stated.

"Hey, thanks for stopping me back there. She might not be the best person in the world but it's not like she's killed anyone. Unlike most of the other ASIC members I've encountered. It's nice to know that I don't have innocent or mostly innocent blood on my hands." Desmond spoke softly, looking directly into IF eyes while holding her shoulder with his left hand for a moment before removing it.

"N-No problem, I'm here for you anytime." She responded with a slight blush across her face.

Desmond nudged IF "Hey, where's Rom and Ram?"

"What do you mean? They were with the… others…?" IF said as she looked toward the party of just Nepgear, Compa, and Red. "Where did they go!?" She called over to the girls.

"W-Well, after Rom was saved Ram started yelling at us about failing to save Rom and that I'm their enemy because I'm Planeptune's CPU Candidate." Nepgear responded.

"So, what happened next?" Desmond asked.

"They wanted to fight so, we fought them and then they flew off." Compa stated.

"Ugh. Those two." Desmond said quietly as he shook his head. "Let's hurry to the Basilicom girls."

"Ok." The rest stated.

* * *

The party arrived at the Basilicom, Desmond opened the door as they all walked in. Nepgear was the first to speak "All that excitement set us back, but we finally made it to the Basilicom. Pardon us, anyone here?"

"Hey! Mina where are you… oh, there you are. What's up? It's been a couple of weeks. Everyone this is Mina the Oracle of Lowee… Mina everyone." Desmond said.

"Hello Desmond, it's nice to see you again. Welcome to Lowee's Basilicom." She looked at Nepgear "Oh, my. Forgive my presumption, but are you Planeptune's…?"

"Yes, I'm Nepgear, the CPU Candidate of Planeptune. We came here today because we want to ask for help…" Nepgear answered.

"For a CPU Candidate to come all this way must mean there's some very important matter to discuss." Mina stated. Nepgear gave her the reason why the party was there. "I see… So, you are seeking our Mascot's power."

"So…?" Nepgear questioned.

'Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to help you right now." Mina said.

"Uh-oh, why not?" Compa questioned.

"Lowee's Mascot has a very important mission. If it leaves, our nation will be swallowed up by unprecedented chaos." Mina answered.

"Mind if I ask what its mission is?" IF asked.

"I do apologize, but the importance of its mission is so great that all relevant information is classified." Mina stated.

"Even to me?" Desmond spoke up.

"Even though you have been a great help to Lowee, you are not originally from here. So, I must refrain from giving you this information." Mina responded.

"But there are bad people out there trying to find and beat the Mascots into a pulp!" Red commented.

"If she can't tell us anything, we'll just have to track it down the old-fashioned way." IF stated.

"It would be rude of me to shoo away such well-traveled guests without giving you something, so…" Mina started. "How about a story? Do you know Lowee's lore regarding the Deity of Sin Arfore?"

"I've never heard any stories about it, no." Nepgear responded.

"Why haven't you told me this story yet?" Desmond asked.

"You never asked." Mina answered.

"Kinda hard to ask a question, when you didn't know you had the question in the first place. But whatever, continue." Desmond said with his arms crossed.

"Arfoire is said to have been born in Lowee. Before I continue, do you know what the Deity of Sin is?" Mina questioned.

"Now that I think about it… No, not really." Nepgear stated and a few others shook their heads.

"ASIC is trying to revive it, so I figure it's some kind of god that'll grant them power." IF commented.

"No, such a convenient god does not exist in this world. In fact, "deity" is hardly an appropriate descriptor." Mina started. "The Deity of Sin exists solely to bring destruction and chaos… No mortal can control its power. It is even said that Gamindustri was on the brink of disaster when the Deity of Sin was first born."

"Gamindustri's destruction…" Nepgear said quietly with a thoughtful look.

"So why would these ASIC people want to revive a big baddie like that?" Red asked.

"Ya, wouldn't they be hurt, too?" Compa added.

"ASIC doesn't truly wish to revive it. It's a tool, a ploy, used to increase their organization's clout. If they had done the proper research on the Deity of Sin, they wouldn't spread word of it among the public." Mina stated.

"Maybe the lower-ranking members of ASIC are being used, too." IF commented.

"It's tough to tell what their true intentions are without word from the leaders directly." Desmond said with a hand to his chin.

"If so, I question their leader's sanity. This would ultimately lead to their own destruction, as well. I hope this story helped to shed a bit of light on the situation." Mina finished.

"The bad part is that the leaders probably don't care about their own death. At least we know what kind of thing ASIC is trying to resurrect." Desmond stated.

"Wow, I know I'm short, but this is going way over my head. So like, what do we do now?" Red asked.

"Nothing's changed. We just have to beat up ASIC, their leader, and whatever else gets in our way." IF answered.

"You're speaking my language." Desmond said as he cracked his knuckles.

The twins run in from the hallway, Ram yelled out "Mina, food!"

"Hungry…" Rom followed.

"Now, now. Mind your manners, kids. We have guests right now, so could you please wait a bit longer?" Mina responded.

"Guests? Ah! It's the CPU dummy! She's come back to bully us more!" Ram shouted while reeling back a little. Rom backed up slightly as well.

""CPU dummy"? Heavens, child, that is quite rude!" Mina stated.

"Yes… yes, it is. Ram!" Desmond stated, clearly not happy with the hostility toward Nepgear.

"Ahh! Oh, hey Desmond… h-how are you? W-when did you get here?" Ram greeted slightly nervous.

"H-Hi… big brother…" Rom said quietly, still partially behind Ram.

"I heard that you all got in a little spat with these lovely ladies, while I wasn't nearby, for no reason whatsoever. Am I correct?" Desmond asked.

"But there is a reason! She is a CPU from a different nation, that means she's our enemy!" Ram exclaimed while pointing at Nepgear. Rom shook her head, going along with Ram.

Desmond let out a sigh before talking again "Yes, she is from another nation. But that does not mean she is an enemy. Gamindustri is in desperate times, meaning that the nations need to come together to fight back against the evil plaguing the world. Which also means she is not your enemy! You are children, we are adults. If there is a serious situation you should find either Mina or I, so we can figure out what ever is going on. Do you understand me!?" he finished with authority.

Rom nodded timidly, while Ram tried to talk back but only got a word out "But…"

"Are you trying to talk back…? Desmond asked with a dark aura forming around him.

"N-No!" Ram quickly responded while shaking her head.

The dark aura went away as he smiled "Good! Now come here." He pulled them into a hug "It's been a bit. Are you ok Rom? Underling didn't hurt you did she? Because if she did I'll…" he started before calming himself down and stopped that sentence. He let go of the girls and stood back up.

"I'm… ok." Rom responded.

"Good." Desmond stated.

As Desmond chewed out the twins Nepgear filled in Mina on what happened. "Now I see. They misbehaved and attacked you, did they? I am truly sorry!" Mina apologized.

"No, no. Please, there's no need to apologize…" Nepgear stated.

"No. As their guardian and educator, I fear I must extend my apologies on their behalf." Mina responded. "Now then, what do you say, kids?"

"Lame! Why do I gotta apologize? I'm not saying anything to that CPU dummy." Ram said annoyed.

"What did I just get finished telling you?" Desmond asked a bit sharply.

"Just because we're not enemies, doesn't mean I have to be friends with her!" Ram responded.

"No, that's not what you're supposed to say in this situation. Try again." Mina commented.

"Hmph! They were so mean, and they were all like, "We're gonna attack you for no reason now, hahaha!"" Ram stated.

"We lost… It really hurt…" Rom added.

Both Desmond and Mina looked at the twins with a dangerous glint in their eyes "What. Do. Good little girls. Say?" Mina asked.

"Yes… And we know the truth of what really happened. So, what is it that you say?" Desmond also asked.

"I'm so sorry! Really!" Ram said.

"Sorry…" Rom added.

"Did anyone else just feel a very dark, scary aura…?" Compa questioned.

"I knew Desmond was capable of such a thing. But I guess there's more than meets the eye with Lowee's Oracle, too." IF commented.

"Please don't worry about it. We actually wanted to ask them for help, too." Nepgear stated.

"As their guardian, I must vehemently refuse that request. As you can see, they're still children. But if they wanted to assist you as fellow CPU Candidates, perhaps I could make an exception." Mina responded.

"No! I don't play with dummies!" Ram interjected.

"Uh-huh." Rom added.

"Seems hopeless. Whatever. We said what we wanted and got what we could, so let's go." IF stated.

"I'm sorry we couldn't offer much, but if I may warn you… Lowee has had a recent uptick in crime. Rumors have even begun, saying that it heralds the start of something unprecedented. Do be careful." Mina warned.

"We will, thank you. I hope we meet again soon." Nepgear responded.

The group started to make their way to the entrance. Desmond was still back a few feet with the twins "Be careful you two. Stay out of trouble, and be nice to Mina. If I find out you do something stupid while I'm out… well… Mina probably will have already punished you so, ya…" He finished while rubbing the back of his head. "Anyway, we'll be back before we leave Lowee. Ok." The two nodded and he rubbed their heads. He turned to Mina "Thanks again for your hospitality, Mina."

"You and your friends are always welcome, Desmond." Mina responded as she gave him a small bow. After that Desmond grouped up with the rest of the party.

* * *

The party walked through the city streets, until they saw Underling. They decided to follow her to see if she would lead them to the Mascot. But she didn't. Instead it seemed like she was doing menial chores for ASIC. The party stopped her before she could finish her job.

"It doesn't look like Miss Underling is looking for the Mascot at all." Compa commented.

"Maybe she doesn't know where it is? I mean, she's just an underling." Red added.

"Possibly so… If that's the reason, at least we won't have to worry about her smashing the Mascot." Desmond stated.

"I didn't expect this plan to work perfectly, anyway. Maybe we should think up a new strategy." IF said.

"U-Um… Please excuse me for a moment…" Nepgear said quickly.

"What's up? Oh, I bet it's tinkle time, isn't it? The cold makes me pee a lot too, so go for it!" Red declared.

Desmond walked up to Red and chopped her head "You can be quite stupid sometimes, you know that." He turned to Nepgear as Red rubbed her head "Gear, whatever you need to do just hurry. We need to find the Mascot as fast as possible." After that Nepgear walked off.

About an hour and a half later, Nepgear finally joined back up with the party. "I…I'm so sorry I'm late!"

"There's an understatement. How long did you plan to putz around in the bathroom!?" IF asked.

"Seriously, but even as late as you are we need to hurry." Desmond stated.

"Oh, did something happen?" Nepgear questioned.

"We overheard Miss Underling on her cellular telephone! She was saying things like "Mascot," and "Block Dungeon," and other nifty keywords…" Compa answered.

"My money is that she went to the dungeon she mentioned on the phone! Let's get there ahead of her!" Red declared.

"Thank you for saying it, let's get a move on. I might know what dungeon Underling was talking about." Desmond said as he started to run. The others followed.

* * *

The party reached the dungeon they set out for, the world labyrinth. They fought into the depths until they found the Mascot.

"Dude! Mascot sighted!" Red shouted as she ran forward.

"We made it here first." Compa commented.

"Good. Let's hurry over to it." Desmond added.

"Who's there?" The disc of white asked.

"Hello. We're sorry to intrude, but we'd like to ask for your help. Could you please lend us your aid?" Nepgear answered.

"Is that… Neptune? No, no… You resemble her, but your aura is unmistakably different…" The disc started.

"You know my sister?" Nepgear questioned.

"You know Neptune?" Desmond added.

"Your sister, huh? I see… You're her younger sister... And how do you know Neptune young man?" White Disc asked.

"I'm a friend of Neptune." Desmond answered.

"I know Neptune very well. She was the one who asked me to stay here, after all." White Disc continued.

"What? Why would Planeptune's CPU give orders to Lowee's Mascot?" IF questioned.

"Lowee has no Mascot. ASIC made sure of that." The disc begun.

"So, then you're from…" Desmond started

"I was originally one of Planeptune's Mascots, until I came here on Neptune's behest. She asked that I ensure prosperity for Lowee, a land that had lost all its Mascots." The disc answered "That said, I cannot help you. It would go against the order that your own sister gave me. Or do you wish to ignore your sister's commands and force me to come along with you?"

"Th-That's… But Neptune's being held captive, so… Um, well, I mean, we should…" Nepgear stuttered to speak.

"Sorry. Perhaps my words were a bit harsh. But that's not the only reason why I must remain here." White Disc stated. "The Oracle of Lowee gave me a very important mission. I cannot abandon this duty, no matter what."

"Can you tell us what this mission entails." Desmond asked.

"Well…" The disc of white started.

"Found ya! You're mine, Mascot!" Underling roared as she interrupted the disc.

"Underling already caught up!" Red spoke up.

"So, it seems." Desmond added with a small sigh.

"What the hell? How'd you idiots find this place!?" Underling questioned.

"Mwahaha! We beat you here after we eavesdropped on your phone call!" Red responded.

"Dude, that's really low… Not very CPU-like at all, y'know!" Underling stated a bit annoyed.

"Not our fault that you yell everything you say to the entire world. You know, there might have been a guy in a coma over in Leanbox that might not have heard you." Desmond mocked.

"Tch. Well, it doesn't matter. I came prepared this time!" Underling yelled.

"Uh-oh! Look at all the Mister Monsters!" Compa said with a little worry.

"Don't worry Compa, there's not that many… I mean sure, there's at least a few dozen here. But it ain't that bad. Anyway, it's been a little bit since I've fought something." Desmond stated as he ran off and started slaying monsters.

"Ya, have fun with that. In the meantime…" Underling muttered as she snuck around to get to the Mascot.

"Tch. This could be bad. Let's get rid of these monsters, quick!" IF commanded as the rest of the party joined Desmond.

After most of the fighting was done, the group looked around to make sure they got all the monsters. Desmond was finishing off the last monster. Then Nepgear spoke up "We did it! Is the Mascot still okay?"

"I…I think the Mascot disappeared!" Compa stated.

"Hahahaha! Disappeared is right! I destroyed it while you were busy fighting my minions!" Underling bellowed, as she gloated over the situation.

Desmond stood over the last creature as he pulled his sword from its corpse as it disappeared into data. "Wait, what?" he questioned as he only partially heard what Underling had said.

Nepgear walked up to the remains of the disc and gathered them together "This…is the disc that housed the Mascot… it's in pieces…"

"I hope you realize what you've done. We won't let you run away this time!" IF yelled.

"Oh? Are you sure you have the time to waste on me? With the Mascot gone, it's gonna be released." Underling stated.

"Um, what is?" Compa asked politely.

"The machine sealed away in another dimension by the Mascot! The Killachine is back, bitches!" Underling yelled while a Killachine started to come out from the other dimension.

"Whoa! Wh-What is this thing? It looks… really cool, like a super robot used in war!" Red said as she looked at the thing in awe.

"So, the mission the Mascot had must've been to keep this thing from becoming active!" IF deduced as the party stared at the machine.

"Here it comes! If we can release a ton of these at once, Lowee will surrender to us overnight!" Underling stated. "Go, Killachine! Rid me of these noisy brats once and for all!"

"Get ready!" Nepgear commanded.

…

…

…

"It's not moving." Red stated.

"Pffft. Hahahaha! Your stupid hunk of junk won't work! Maybe you should check your equipment before using it in the field!" Desmond said as he continued laughing and Red joined with him.

"J-Just gimme a sec, wouldja?" Underling asked before walking toward the machine "Yo, Killachine? Hey, dude…" the Killachine didn't respond.

"Maybe it got all rusted from being sealed away for so long…" Compa stated.

"Try calling tech support!" Desmond called as he chuckled.

"Th-That's not funny! Why is this happening? And after that badass setup, too… Move it, scraphead!" Underling yelled as she hit the machine. The Killachine whirled to life as it started moving. "Ya! That's what I'm talking about!"

"Aww, man. That sucks… it's working now." Desmond complained.

"How archaic. It must be an old machine if you can fix it with a couple of solid kicks." IF stated her observations.

"Shaddap! Who cares, as long as it ends up working!? Go get 'em, Killachine!" Underling commanded.

"Ok, everyone get into positions." Desmond stated as everyone grouped back up.

The Killachine roared as it made its way toward the party. Slamming it's weapons into the ground as it neared. "IF and Red, flank it! Compa provide covering fire! Gear you'll be with me!" Desmond commanded the group as he materialized his weapons.

"Ok!" the girls responded.

IF moved right and Red went left, moving around the machine. As they did that Desmond and Nepgear dashed forward and started slashing the Killachine. And Compa shot at it with whatever she shoots out of that syringe of hers. IF and Red attacked the machine from the sides and back but not much was done. Desmond and Nepgear were making a little headway, but more damage needed to be done. Desmond and Nepgear were about to go back for another attack, as the Killachine brought down its weapons toward the two. Desmond created an electric shield to protect them both, the strength of the attack pushed the shield down creating a small ring where the electricity touched the ground. After the shield was lifted he motioned for Nepgear to step back toward Compa, as he did as well. IF and Red joined them.

"Whoa, that's some solid steel!" Red exclaimed.

"Ya, and between the other monsters and putting up that shield… I'm out of juice." Desmond remarked as he could barely make a spark.

"Dang, this is getting us nowhere. We gotta pull back for now and see if the Oracle has any advice!" IF commented.

"As much as I hate to say it, ok… let's go." Desmond added as the party ran off.

After reaching a safe distance they stopped for a moment and Compa spoke up "Phew. We're all safe for now."

"Ya. Let's see the Oracle. If more of those machines appear, we're in for a really long night." IF stated.

"DAMMIT!" Desmond yelled as he punched one of the block walls, cracking it a bit. "After three years of training this power and still I have such annoying limits! I should be able to use it a lot more by now!"

"Calm down. You're still human y'know, you can only do so much." IF stated as the girls moved over to him. Compa checked his hand for injuries.

"IF is right Desmond. I'm a CPU and even I have my limits." Nepgear said trying to help the situation.

Desmond let out a heavy sigh before talking "I know, I know… It's just a bit annoying, not taking down an enemy that is clearly a threat to a nation that I have been trying to protect for the past three years. Let's just get back to Chika and formulate a plan to take that thing down next time."

"Ya! Next time we'll go in there and beat that thing up real good." Red commented.

"Yessy." Compa said before she bopped Desmond on the forehead.

"Hey!?" he exclaimed.

"Don't go around hitting stuff like that. You could hurt yourself, and we don't need you getting injured before we go into a fight. Got it." Compa said stern tone and a serious face.

"I'll try. Can't make promises though." Desmond responded with a half smile. Shortly after, the party made way toward the exit and headed to the Lowee Basilicom.

* * *

 **I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Took a little bit longer to get this out than I wanted too. But all well, at least I got it done. Leave a review and let me know what you think. And as always have a good day.  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**Welcome back to my little story here.**

 **Conceited3: Yes, I have changed the ya to yeah. At first I had it as ya and when I realized it I was already on ch. 2 or 3 so I wanted to at least keep it uniform but that is the second review about that subject so I have changed it starting with this chapter. I might change past chapters if I have time, no promises.**

 **blue555Nexus: I'm glad you're enjoying it. I would not consider Desmond a brother role to Nepgear at this point. They have known each other for a month before the CPU capture and for how ever long it has been since they got Nepgear. Unlike his relationship with the twins, due to the fact that he lived a good part of the three years in Lowee. But I might make it like that in the future.**

* * *

The party made it back to the Basilicom and reported the situation back to Mina.

"I see. The Killachine is back." Mina responded.

"You ran because you were scared to fight it? Jeez, you're so…" Ram started but stopped when she saw Desmond's glare.

"No. We had to leave due to its high defense and I was running out of power. And it still annoys me to no end." Desmond stated.

"Are you okay…?" Rom asked Nepgear.

"Yes, I'm just fine. Thank you." Nepgear answered.

"Tell us about the Killachine. Our attacks could hardly dent it." IF questioned.

"Arfoire created it as a tool of destruction. Its power… Well, you saw that much firsthand." Mina responded.

"Yeah… It's got some good hardware." Desmond commented.

"Also, there are far more than one of them. Hundreds must be sealed away all over Lowee…" Mina continued.

"Hundreds? Oh, give me a break." IF stated.

"Pssh! Numbers are stupid. Just say the word, then me and Rom will blow 'em all away!" Ram stated.

"Ka-boom…" Rom added.

"I don't know if I want you two near those machines." Desmond said while crossing his arms.

"What!? Why!?" Ram shouted.

"Yeah… Why?" Rom added.

"Those things have great defensive armor and strong offensive abilities. And even though you both are CPU's, they might be too much for you two." Desmond answered.

"Now, now. I don't think it's as simple as blowing things up…" Compa spoke up.

"Such a course of action isn't realistic. That's why we used the Mascot to seal them away, but…" Mina started but paused.

"The disc shattered. The Mascot…" Nepgear hesitated.

"Still, this situation must be addressed. Fortunately, ASIC is not one to take hasty action." Mina stated.

"Which could also mean they're taking their time to make a thorough game plan." IF commented.

"Possibly… Hopefully they're just standing there doing nothing." Desmond added.

"But their hesitation does change the options available to us." Mina responded. "It is a selfish request, but may I ask for your aid in protecting the city and gathering information?"

"Of course, we will. You don't have to ask." Desmond stated.

"Thank you. I'm sure you're all tired after today's ordeal. Please rest here for the night." Mina said.

"Thanks Mina, that'll save me some money. I'll show them to the guest rooms." Desmond stated before taking the girls to the rooms.

* * *

Desmond laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling thinking over the events of the day, as a knock came from the door. "Yo." He called out.

"It's me IF." She said.

"Come in." he responded as he sat up. IF opened the door and walked in. "It's peaceful up here isn't it."

"That it is. Of course, besides all the stuff that's going on. The view is quite nice at night as well I must say." IF responded as she looked out the window.

"Is there a reason that you're here for, or did ya just wanna hang out?" Desmond asked just before IF sat next to him.

"How are you doing? Lowee is like another home for you now. And there's quite the possibly that hundreds of those machines at the ready to attack this place." She responded.

"I'm doing fine, sure it's annoying as all could be to know that it could happen at any moment. But that just means that we need to get up tomorrow and get this crap finished." He stated. "The sooner we get this done the faster the threat can get away from the twins."

"Yeah, you do seem quite protective of those two. Of course, it makes sense given how close you are to them." IF commented.

"Like I said, they're kinda like my sisters. So, Yeah. Anyways…" he pondered for a moment "I have an idea. You said you liked the view, right?"

"Yeah. Why?" she asked with a perplexed look on her face.

"Just come on." He said as he grabbed her wrist and moved toward the door. As the left his room he moved through the hallways and up through the basilicom. As the two reached the top of the building Desmond opened the door and they were on the roof. It wasn't too big but there was a rail that went across the sides and it was all covered in snow. As the two walked over to the edge overlooking the city. They could see the lights through the city, the snow reflecting the light causing the area to look brighter as more snow fell. Beyond the city they could see the multitude of hills and valleys that moved off into the horizon.

"It's amazing!" IF said in awe.

"Yeah, it looks majestic. It is a place deserving of its name "the land of white serenity."" Desmond stated. "Thought you'd might like to see something nice before the craziness starts back up."

"Thanks, it's nice to take a break every now and then." She said as she smiled.

"I'd come up here when I needed to just take a moment and destress." He stated. The two stood there for a while longer, not talking just enjoying the scenery. "Are you ready to go back inside? We need to get some sleep."

"Yeah, I'm ready. Thanks for showing this to me." She said with a warm smile.

The two walked back into the building, brushed the snow off of themselves and went back to their rooms for the night.

* * *

The morning was mostly uneventful, they got ready for the day and tried to formulate a plan to protect the city from the Killachines, but couldn't come up with much. After the party left the basilicom, they tried to find out if ASIC had tried to do anything between the time they left the dungeon that housed the now broken white disc and now.

"Well, this sucks. We can protect the city all we want, but the enemy's shown no sign of movement." IF said in an annoyed tone.

"Even if the Mister Killachines do come, I don't think we're enough to protect the whole city…" Compa commented looking a bit worried.

"And the Mascot is gone. What're we going to do…?" Nepgear questioned.

"It is quite the conundrum isn't it. An army of highly defensive robots out there and the only thing that has held them back for who knows how long is broken." Desmond stated as he crossed his arms.

"Egh, I hate thinking. Why not glue the disc back together? If my wifeys and wifey magnet join forces, anything's possible." Red stated.

"Wifey magnet? Whatever." Desmond questioned but brushed it off. It was Red saying that.

"As if it would be that easy." IF criticized.

"Still that's our only real option at this point. Let's try to find a way to piece it back together." Nepgear stated. "I mean, we need the Mascot to seal the machines away again, and we need its help for the CPUs…"

"Yeah, but who know how to fix a broken disc? Not like we'll happen upon such a convenient person." IF spoke up.

"It can be fixed, nyu." A mysterious voice spoke up.

"See? If we just stumbled upon someone like her, then maybe it would be possible." IF continued without paying any attention to the voice.

Desmond nudged her shoulder to get her attention then pointed to the source of the voice as it spoke up again. "I said, it can be fixed, nyu."

"Huh? Uh, who are you?" IF asked while giving a puzzled look.

"Broccoli, nyu." The small girl answered.

"So, you're named after a vegetable?" Desmond asked but got no response.

"Hello, um… Nice to meet you. I'm sorry to ask this so suddenly, but can you really fix this disc?" Nepgear asked.

"Well, GAMERS magazine had an article about fixing discs a while back, so sure, nyu." Broccoli answered.

"Of course, it would be that convenient wouldn't it. All well, at least it makes our job easier." Desmond stated.

"Don't think about it too hard. Anyway, you can fix your disc with the right materials, nyu." Broccoli responded.

"Okay. What do we need to gather?" Nepgear asked.

"Two things. Rare Metal and Datanium, nyu." Broccoli responded.

"Do you know where we can get those items?" Desmond questioned.

"The Lowee International Exhibit has some interesting monsters, if you get what Broccoli is saying, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"You heard her, let's go everyone!" Desmond commanded.

"I will wait here. Good luck out there, nyu." Broccoli said as the party left the area.

* * *

After making their way to the Lowee International Exhibit, the party fought their way into the dungeon for a bit before killing a monster that dropped the item. Then they left and found out that the other item was in the dungeon called the World Labyrinth. After entering the place, it wasn't long before they found and destroyed the monster that held the item.

"And with that, we have the items Broccoli said we needed. We should hurry back to the city." Nepgear stated.

"I hope we can resuscitate the Mascot!" Compa commented.

"More like we have to bring it back. Time's running out, and there's no telling when the enemy will strike." IF said with haste.

"Yes, so, let's all hurry and get back." Desmond stated.

* * *

"We got the items, Broccoli!" Nepgear shouted as she approached the small girl.

"Well done, nyu. All right, so… Give it your best, Nepgear." Broccoli stated.

"What the goodness!? Me?" Nepgear questioned.

"You can do it. Just believe in yourself, nyu." Broccoli responded.

"Okay… I guess I can try…" Nepgear stated.

"Shouldn't be that hard, so go ahead Gear." Desmond commented.

"Let's borrow a room in the Basilicom. It might be good to have the Oracle around if the Mascot recovers." IF pointed out.

The party moved to another room and Nepgear started to work on bringing the Mascot back. While they were doing so Mina came in. "I see. You plan to bring the Mascot back by creating a replica disc with the materials gathered."

"Broccoli was kind enough to appear at the most convenient time and tell us about this method." Nepgear stated.

"Let's save the praise until after we manage to pull this off." IF commented.

"Agreed." Desmond added.

"Whoa! This is so rad! Lowee's Mascot is gonna come back and be fine, right?" Ram asked.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh…" Rom agreed.

Desmond pulled the twins back by the back of their coats "Hey, don't get too close you two. We don't need it accidently broken before it's fixed."

The two looked back up at him and nodded "Fine." The three then turned their attention back to Nepgear.

"And now I put this doodad in with that thingamajig, and… Yay, I did it!" Nepgear exclaimed.

The disc shone and started to move upward as it came back to life. "Hmm? Where… is this…?"

"Score! The Mascot's back!" Red exclaimed.

"Good job Gear!" Desmond stated as he walked over to her and patted her on the head.

"T-Thanks." Nepgear said with a smile as Desmond pulled back his hand.

"Yes. It's wonderful to see you again. Do you remember who I am?" Mina asked.

"Lowee's Oracle… What's going on here? I was… destroyed, and yet…" White disc started.

"We repaired you and brought you back." Nepgear interjected.

"To be more specific, Gear fixed the disc up." Desmond pointed out.

"I see… Thank you. But then, what of the seal?" The disc questioned.

"It has been broken. We need to seal the Killachines away again as soon as possible." Mina answered. "It pains me to treat you as nothing more than a tool, but…"

"No need to feel that way. Time is of the essence. Knowing this… Sister of Neptune, I need to ask a favor of you." The disc of white stated.

"Yes? What is it?" Nepgear asked.

"As you have noticed, fighting is not my forte. I am unable to return to where I must reactivate the seal. Though it may burden you, may I ask that you escort me to my destination?" White Disc answered.

"Of course! You didn't even need to ask." Nepgear responded with a smile.

"I'm going too, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"Why, Miss Broccoli? We're going to a very scary, dangerous dungeon." Compa asked.

"Can you even fight Broccoli?" Desmond questioned.

"There's strength in numbers. I can be very helpful, nyu." Broccoli answered.

"No need to bite the hand offering to feed us, right?" IF commented.

"That's right, welcome to the party Broccoli." Desmond stated.

"We're really grateful for your help." Nepgear said cheerfully before asking. "Um… It would be really nice if Rom and Ram came with us, too. They'd be a big help."

"Okay, I wanna…" Rom started before Ram interrupted.

"N-No! Stupid Rom, we can't go!" she shouted while flinging her arms around.

"Why not…?" Rom asked.

"Um, 'cuz… we're Lowee's CPU Candidates, so we gotta stay here and protect the city, duh!" Ram responded.

"But…" Rom tried to argue.

"As much fun, it would be to have them with us, Ram is not completely wrong with that statement. And we can't force them to go with us. But Ram, you do not call you sister stupid. I don't want that kind of attitude coming from you. Got it?" Demsond stated as he walked over to Ram and knelt so they were looking eye to eye.

"Fine. But I'm not going with you while she's around." Ram stated with a pout.

Desmond sighed "You, need to get over this grudge with Gear. She's done nothing wrong. Anyway, I'll see you two later." He hugged both of them. "Bye."

"Bye!" Ram responded.

"Bye…" Rom responded.

The twins ran off to go play, Mina walked up "They're still just kids, after all. I'm truly sorry to task you with such a burden when it should be dealt with by Lowee authorities…"

Desmond put a hand on her shoulder "It's fine, it's not a burden at all. And anyway, I'm kind of like an unofficial Lowee authority."

The party then left after that to go back to the World Labyrinth where the Killachines where being housed.

* * *

The party moved into the dungeon, it wasn't long before they found Killachines moving about the area.

"Wowzers, look at them all! They're everywhere!" Red shouted.

"We struggled so much against one, but against so many…" Nepgear commented.

"Don't worry too much about those things. I have an idea of how to take them down. Or at least a few." Desmond stated.

"There is no alternative. To reactivate the seal, I must be taken to this dungeon's depths." White Disc stated.

"Iffy, don't you have some kind of super cool secret agent plan?" Compa asked.

"Yeah, secret agent Iffy, secret agent Iffy…" Desmond started to tease her before taking a punch to the back of the head by the girl in question.

"Now that I can think. Well… We can bank on them not being fully operational yet. So if we sneak around them, then…" IF said as she held a hand to her chin.

"Do you want to try doing that? Standing here isn't gonna get anything done, you know!" Compa commented.

"And if they start moving, we just gotta smack 'em around until they stop. Simple!" Red stated.

"I'm tossing Red's idea right into the trash. Anyway, let's go. It's our only choice for now." IF responded.

"Come on, it's not that bad. But you're still right, so let's get to it." Desmond added.

"Good, they aren't moving… If we just keep quiet, then maybe… Just maybe…" Nepgear said quietly.

One of the Killachines made a loud noise as it started to move "Hey, watch out everyone, some of them are whirring to life." Desmond whispered.

"Too late, nyu." Broccoli commented.

"Yikes! It's starting to move…" Compa stated.

"Your plan totally failed, nyu." Broccoli said.

"Then… we have to do what we must! And we must fight!" Nepgear exclaimed.

"Or I could just do this…" Desmond stated, as he brought out his hand blade. He then moved over to the machine and quickly sliced off the arms and head of the Killachine. After doing that it fell destroyed. "Much better. Should've done that the first time."

"Well you made short work of that one huh." IF stated.

Alarms started going off "Uh-oh, what'd we do this time?" Compa questioned.

"Bad news. It's activating the other machines, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"Crap, that's annoying." Desmond said with annoyance.

"Goodness! They're all starting to move…!" Nepgear pointed out.

"Great. Worst day ever." IF commented.

"Jeez, what're you dummies standing around for!?" Ram as White Sister asked as she popped in out of nowhere.

"Rom! And you too, Ram?" Nepgear questioned a bit shocked by their appearance.

"We made it… Hurry up and seal them away…" Rom as White Sister stated.

"B-But, isn't it dangerous for you two to go it alone?" Nepgear asked.

"What do we look like to you…" Ram started before getting cut off.

"Yes, it is dangerous… but I know they can take care of themselves when they're together. Freeze their joints and then break them off from the main body. Shouldn't be too hard for you two, right." Desmond cut in as he spoke in a matter of fact way, having fought with them here and there over the last three years.

"You heard him, we can take care of ourselves. And we'll do what you said Desmond." Ram stated.

"We'll be fine… Are you sure you can't fight with us big brother?" Rom asked.

"No, sorry. As much as I would like to make sure you two are fine, we got to get the Mascot back to its place. So, take care." Desmond responded before the party hurried their way to the dungeon depths.

After reaching the area that they found the Mascot they saw Underling talking aloud to herself. "Wow. This last one is taking forever to activate. Maybe I hit the spawn cap? Man, waiting around sucks… Screw this! I got plenty to burn Lowee to the ground."

"We won't let that happen!" Nepgear yelled.

"Oh great, you idiots again! How the hell did you get here? What happened to the Killachines?" Underling questioned.

"Lowee's CPU Candidates are taking care of your scrap problem. It's over once we reactivate the seal!" IF stated.

"The seal? How dumb are you? The Mascot's gone! Kaput! Hell, I'd like to see you try!" Underling exclaimed.

"As you wish." White Disc spoke.

"Hehe, yeah, go ahead and try, you stupid Masco—Hey! What!? How the hell is the Mascot here!?" Underling asked shocked.

"Whatever you break, I can fix, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"You fixed it!? That's so cheap! Dammit, you're ruining everything!" Underling said annoyed.

"So how about you shut up and get out of here." Desmond stated as he started to walk forward.

"Gaaaaah! Killachine! Fight these dumb broads and buy me some time!" Underling yelled at the machine behind her. "I've got to find an escape rou—Er, find reinforcements!"

Two machines moved forward, one a regular Killachine the other was a bit bigger. "I'll take the big one the rest of you take out that Killachine." Desmond commanded as the rest nodded in agreement. He made his way to the machine.

The machine moved forward toward Desmond and started to bring its two swords down on him. Desmond quickly moved out of the way, dodging to its right. The machine moved toward the rest of the group ignoring Desmond. He couldn't let that happen, he materialized his two pistols and fired a barrage at the machine. While not doing much damage, Desmond got its attention. Desmond formed his hand blade and dashed toward the creature and sliced at the arm of the machine. But the armor was too thick and durable to cut in one go, but did leave a large gash in the machine. It attacked Desmond with its other arm, missing him as Desmond jumped back. Desmond then thought of something he could try, so he focused in on his power and extended the length of his hand blade and caused it to move more freely like a whip. He threw it around both of the machine's arms as it tried another attack, as he held the arm whip on the machine he pulled it and a few seconds later pulling the arms of it off. Desmond then grabbed the midsection of the machine with the whip cutting it in half. He then changed the whip back to an extended arm blade and shoved it through the machine's head. By the time he was done the rest of the party took out the Killachine.

"Return to scrapyard heaven, junk! Anyone see where Underling went!" Red asked.

"She ran off. Then again, she's the least of our worries now…" IF stated.

"Exactly, let's just get the Mascot back to its place." Desmond said.

"We need to hurry up and get the Killachines sealed away!" Nepgear exclaimed.

"Of course. One moment." The disc of white stated, a few moments later a few machines in the distance started to shut down.

"We good?" IF questioned.

"It seems so. All Killachines have been deactivated. As long as I am here, they will never return." White Disc responded.

"Phew! We're in the clear!" Compa said with relief.

"Lowee is safe, thanks to you. No words can accurately express my level of gratitude." White Disc stated.

"We only did what was right. But… that means you can't come with us, doesn't it?" Nepgear asked.

"No, it cannot in its physical form. But in Lastation their Mascot gave us some of its power, could you possibly do that." Desmond questioned.

"Unfortunately, I lack the proper technique to perform such a… huh?" White Disc started as a bright light shone and another White Disc was seen. "This? This is me? How did this happen?"

The other one spoke up "I wish I could tell you, me. So you don't know, either?"

"I'm soooo confused right now!" Compa stated.

"Patchwork with generic materials may cause some glitches in the disc, but this glitch is cool, nyu." Broccoli explained.

"So, like… The Mascot made a clone of itself just in case its physical body got destroyed?" IF asked.

"Sounds good enough to me." Desmond commented as he placed his hands behind his head.

"Ironic, considering our efforts to bring it back to life. All's well that ends well, I guess." IF stated.

"U-Um, so, in this case…?" Nepgear questioned.

"Yes, yes. I can now heed your request. I will stay behind and maintain this seal." One of the discs stated.

"And I will join you to assist in whatever way possible." The other disc said.

"Come on, are you done yet? I'm so bored! Let's go home!" Ram yelled.

"Thank you, Miss Nepgear…" Rom said happily.

"I should be thanking you two. We couldn't have done this without your help, after all." Nepgear stated.

Rom giggled a bit at Nepgear's words

"Yeah we could have. But it would've been more difficult. We don't need Ram getting such a big head from all the praise. But you two did do well, are you hurt at all?" Desmond asked as he walked over to the twins

"I'm fine!" Ram exclaimed.

"I-I got a few scratches, but I'm okay…" Rom said quietly.

"Good." Desmond stated.

"Pssh. Okay, okay, whatever. Let's go home! I'm hungry!" Ram shouted.

"Man… kids… They have a point, though. Let's get back to the Oracle." IF commented.

"Yeah, let's get to it. And since I'm hungry as well I'll make something for everyone when we get back." Desmond stated.

"Yay!" The twins shouted as Ram jumped on Desmond's back and Rom hugged his side.

"Hey, don't knock me down now. I still gotta move." Desmond said as he smiled at the two.

'As angry he can get, I'm surprised to see him handle these kids so easily.' IF thought as she looked at the spectacle.

* * *

The party with twins in tow, made it back to the basilicom where Mina waited inside to greet them. "I am eternally grateful. You have saved Lowee from an incredible disaster."

"It's all good Mina, don't worry about it." Desmond said with a smile and a wave.

"He's right. Don't worry about it. We were able to get the Mascot's assistance by helping, after all." Nepgear added.

"Then, I am glad that your hard work bore fruit. Are you all planning to leave right away?" Mina asked.

"After we eat something. And with that I'm heading to the kitchen." Desmond stated as he walked away.

"Miss Nepgear… You're leaving?" Rom asked while Ram mostly ignored Nepgear as she stood back.

"Yes, but I'm sure we'll meet again. Please don't look sad. This is supposed to be a happy good-bye." Nepgear answered.

"Okay…" Rom responded.

"I'm sorry that we can be of no further assistance, but allow me to wish you luck on your journey." Mina stated.

"Thanks!" Nepgear responded.

"Okay, I'm hungry and Desmond has already started lunch! So, let's go eat!" Ram yelled as she made her way to the kitchen, as did the rest of the group.

After eating the party made their way to the front door ready to leave, until Desmond was grabbed from behind by two sets of arms. "Don't think you're getting away!" Ram yelled as she jumped on his back.

"Surprise attack…" Rom said quietly while hugging him.

"Oh no… Timber…" Desmond joked as he let himself fall, the three of them laughing all the way. "Okay, off." He stated before the twins stood up and so did he. "Take care of yourselves and don't give Mina too much trouble okay."

"Yes." The two responded.

"Now come here." Desmond stated as he hugged the twins "See you two later." He said with a smile as he stood back up and moved over to the party.

"Bye Desmond!" Ram exclaimed as she waived.

"See you, big bro…" Rom stated quietly with a smile. She then walked up to Nepgear "Bye Miss. Nepgear… take care…"

"You too, Rom. I hope we could see each other again soon." Nepgear responded as Rom nodded to Gear's words.

After that the party left the basilicom.

"Where to next?" Nepgear asked.

"Leanbox. There aren't any other CPU Candidates there, but they've got to have a Mascot." IF answered.

"Leanbox, huh, nyu?" Broccoli stated.

Nepgear's N-Gear rang "Oh! My N-Gear is ringing. I bet it's Histoire. Hello?" Nepgear answered. After a moment of listening to Histy "We secured the help of Lowee's Mascot and we were just about to head down to Leanbox." Another moment "Me? But why?" one more time "Okay, we're on our way." She ended the call. "So… did everyone hear that?" She asked.

"Hmm… What whould the Oracle want? I guess we'll find out after we arrive." IF questioned.

"I don't know… I haven't talked to her since before we got Gear back, so I guess we'll have to find out." Desmond stated with a hand to his chin.

"Yep. How do we get to Leanbox from here, though?" Nepgear asked.

"We could take one of the ships that go between Lastation and Leanbox. We'll get there in a jiffy!" Compa answered.

"Yeah, it'd be closer than trying to go to Leanbox from Lastation than Planeptune at least. Let's try to get to Leanbox before nightfall. So, let's go." Desmond stated as the party started to move toward Lastation.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave a review to let me know what you think. And have a good day.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Welcome back to the story. I decided to put the whole Leanbox part of the game's ch. 2 into this Chapter, so it's longer.**

 **blue555Nexus: I'm glad you really like my chapters. I'm not sure how fast I can get chapters out, it changes from ch. to ch. But, at least one is what I believe my longest chapter yet.**

 **Let's get into the story.**

* * *

The party made their way to the Lastation transport depot. After buying tickets to the last ship out, they were rushing due to their late arrival.

"Oh, there's our ship! Let's go, everyone!" Red shouted as she spotted the ship.

"W-Wait for me, please… I can't run that fast…" Compa called out from the back of the group.

"Compa, start exercising, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"Stop acting whiny. C'mon, if we miss this ship, the tickets we bought are useless." IF said as she hurried along.

"Please push yourself, Compa." Nepgear stated.

Desmond stopped in front of Compa and knelt down "Get on, we need to hurry!" Compa hopped on his back and Desmond dashed off catching up with the others. But about half a minute later the ship took off.

"Aww, and there it goes." Red commented sadly.

"I ran… sooooo hard… I need… electrolytes…" Compa said between breaths.

"Jeez… We'll have to catch one tomorrow. I hope this doesn't come back to bite us in the ass." IF stated.

"Hahahaha! I'd feel bad for them if they weren't so damn slow. Man, they really suck, huh!?" A voice rang out, the party shortly afterwards realizing it was underling.

"My lovely Compa, please hurry! Hurry, so we can enjoy our honeymoon rendezvous together, chu!" Warechu yelled.

"And it's already bit us in the ass." Desmond deadpanned. "Also, that rat doesn't know when to keep its trap shut."

"Miss Underling! And Mister Mouse!" Compa noted.

"Don't tell me they're heading to Leanbox, too." IF stated.

"Hehehe, we'll go ahead and start the party without you broads! Sit back and watch the fireworks!"

"Compa, my angel! I'll be waiting for you, so please come and see me real soon, chuuuu!" Warechu shouted

"Grrrrrr. Piece of…" Desmond said as he was about to materialize his pistol, but then he decided not to due to where he was. "Those two…"

"We can't let them beat us there! C'mon, let's chase after the ship!" Red commanded.

"But there aren't any more ships leaving port today…" Nepgear stated.

"Yeah, it's biting us in the ass, all right…" IF commented.

Desmond let out a heavy sigh "Nothing we can do about that now. Let's find a place to sleep for the night."

The party left the transport depot and went to a nearby hotel. Where they spent the night then woke up the next morning and headed back to the depot.

"We woke up and made it here very early today, so I'm sure we'll be able to get on a ship." Nepgear commented.

"I'm so sleepy… I need a nap, nyu…" Broccoli said with half opened eyes.

"Are you okay? Luckily, I packed some great nursing tools. Here, a shot of pure caffeine!" Compa exclaimed.

"Please don't put that into someone. Too much of that could be dangerous." Desmond stated with a sweat drop.

"I agree with Desmond. Anyway, let's look at the departure times." IF commented. "Huh? Wait, why is everything listed as being canceled!?"

One of the staff answered her question "Sorry miss, but our line of ships have malfunctioned. We're not sure when we'll have them working again."

"I smell a rat! And an underling! Those two really know how to get under your shirt, don't they!?" Red exclaimed.

"That's an odd expression… but whatever." Desmond stated.

"Is there no other way there? We really, really need to get to Leanbox today." Nepgear asked.

"I'd love to help, but… Hmm… I wonder if it's okay to ask for these young people to help…" the staff member thought out loud.

"What do you mean?" Desmond asked.

"See, one ship here is undergoing maintenance. We want to put it in service while we fix the others. But we're missing a few key parts. That's why I wondered if you would be able to help…" the staff member answered.

"We'll be able to ride for free, for all time, right, nyu?" Broccoli interjected.

"Naturally. We'd be happy to accommodate you all, free of charge." the staff member responded.

"It's a deal. Let's do this fetch quest, nyu." Broccoli said with a chipper tone.

"Uh, I really wish you'd consult the rest of the party for that sort of thing, but… whatever." IF stated.

"No, I think it's fine in a case like this. We need to get to Leanbox as soon as possible." Desmond commented.

The staff member spoke back up "We need an anchor, a sail, and a figurehead for the ship. We really appreciate this."

"Ok, let's get to it everyone." Desmond said before they all left the area.

* * *

"We got the parts." Nepgear said as the party met back up with the staff member.

"Brilliant! Many thanks. Just wait a moment while my crew gets everything ready to go." The staff member exclaimed before they all got to work on the ship. "Thanks for waiting. It's ready to depart!"

"Goodie. Let's get going." Nepgear stated.

"Yeah. I just hope those two nitwits haven't done anything ridiculous in Leanbox yet…" IF commented.

"Agreed. So, let's hurry up." Desmond added.

* * *

"We made it." Nepgear said happily.

"At first glance, everything looks to be peaceful…" IF stated.

"Yep, but… Um, how do I say it? The place we're in… it feels… *whispers* like a ghetto…" Compa commented.

"Woah, woah… woah. Compa, as a person that has tried to keep this place in order that… is… well… still kinda true. Sadly, to say." Desmond responded lowering his head slightly.

"With no CPU or Candidate left in Leanbox, faith must be down to zilch, nyu." Broccoli added.

"Yeah… there's only so much that the Oracle and I can do without Vert here." Desmond said with a sigh.

"What's next? Go rat and underling hunting?" Red questioned.

"We're going to the Basilicom. The Oracle was desperate to see Nepgear, remember?" IF answered. "I'm sure Underling and the rat are here for the same reason we are, so finding them is just a matter of time."

Desmond clapped his hands together "Well, while you all are doing that, I need to go meet up with an old friend and then I'm gonna check around town and see what's up. So just let me know how it goes with Chika and I'll probably meet back with ya'll in a few hours."

"An old friend? Who is it?" IF pondered.

Desmond waved his finger "tsk, tsk, tsk. That's a secret for now. All will be revealed in due time." He walked off after that.

"Well I guess we should be going." IF stated and the party went to the Basilicom.

* * *

After meeting with the Oracle, the party minus Desmond went to a dungeon to kill a monster at request of the Oracle. During the time they were there, they met Cave. Cave had asked them if the Oracle seemed odd, sketchy. To which the group agreed. The party went back to the basilicom and couldn't find Chika so they let the building. The first to speak up was IF "Getting info now would be like a dream come true. How can we learn anything without a single lead?"

"I know, right? Asking people about Miss Chika willy-nilly makes us look super fishy." Compa added.

"Do we know anyone who could help us out?" Red asked.

"Help us, huh? That would be convenient, but…" Nepgear started until she saw someone "Wait, I… I see Uni! Hi, Uni! Hello, hello!" she moved toward Uni while waving her hand.

"Huh? Crap, it's Nepgear!" Uni shouted.

"Aww… She saw me and said "Crap"…" Nepgear pouted.

"I'll say whatever I want! What're you doing here!?" Uni exclaimed.

"I have the same question. Do you have any business in Leanbox?" Nepgear asked.

"No comment." Uni answered.

"Awwwwww, c'mon… Tell me, please?" Nepgear pleaded while Uni said nothing. "Pretty please…?"

"Ugh! Fine, whatever! Anything to make you stop looking at me like that." Uni caved. "I'm here for probably the same reason you are. I'm collecting as many Shares as possible. I figured that, with no CPU I could get a lot of Shares here with little effort."

"Good thing that Desmond isn't here to hear your little plan. He's kinda been trying to keep this place together y'know." IF stated.

Uni tensed up for a split second before looking around. Once confirming that he wasn't there she let out a sigh. Nepgear then spoke up "Do you not like Desmond?"

"W-What? N-No, I wouldn't say that. It's just that he's always pooping up out of nowhere and it's annoying. A-And… and that's all that you need to know." Uni responded bit more guarded toward the end.

"So, how has collecting Shares been working out for you?" IF asked.

"Not good, actually. Abysmal, even. I can't believe ASIC was given the freedom to thrive here. Green-lit by the Oracle herself, no less! No wonder there's nobody left here with faith in us CPUs." Uni answered.

"That sounds serious…" Compa commented.

"Well, it won't stop me or anything. I don't give up very easily. I'll be taking the Shares here, so you all better stay out of my way. Understood?" Uni stated before running off.

"Wait, Uni! Aww, she ran away from me…" Nepgear said dejected.

"Even she was talking about that Oracle. She just went from sketchy to full-blown modern art." IF commented. She heard one of her phones ring, she picked it up and saw it was a text from Desmond. "Desmond says that he'll be out doing something till late tonight. And to pick a hotel and for me to let him know." She closed her phone as she sighed 'Leaving us like this really. He knows this place better than the rest of us. I'll make sure to scold him latter for this crap.' She thought before the party started to try to gain info on the situation in Leanbox.

* * *

It was night in Leanbox and the party still minus Desmond were walking in the streets still trying to gain info, and soon a place to sleep.

"We just need one more solid piece of information to make our case…" IF stated.

"S-Still, we can't say for certain that Miss Chika is in the wrong, can we?" Nepgear questioned.

"But Miss Chika isn't even around to see how bad things are…" Compa commented.

A chipper voice came from off in the distance "Hi, everyone! Listen to my song!" and with it a roar of a crowd.

"Huh? Where'd that come from?" Nepgear asked.

"Whoa, a street concert! We're gonna watch, okay!?" Red responded.

"But there's no time for—Ugh, well, not like we have any more leads at the moment." IF stated.

"Knowing when to rest is very important for your health." Compa added.

"Tell that to Desmond every now and then." IF commented.

* * *

They walked over to the concert and join the sea of people that are listening to the songs. After a while of the party listening, IF spotted something "Huh? Hey, I just saw something."

"What's up, Iffy?" Compa asked.

"Ugh. Just when I was about to relax. I can't unsee it, so I guess I have to address it…" IF stated.

"Oh, where are you going? The concert isn't over yet…" Nepgear said.

The singer 5pb spoke up "Let's keep our energy up! Time for the next song!"

Underling spoke without knowing IF and the others were behind her "Hehehe… I'll silence this dumb broad's voice for sure. I can't wait to see those bimbos' faces…"

"Gee, so sorry for being a bimbo." IF said.

"What? Oh, are you serious!? What're you idiots doing here!?" Underling questioned.

"How dare you try and trample my wifey candidate's concert! No escape for you today!" Red exclaimed.

"Not my day, is it? I don't have time for this crap. See ya, twerps!" Underling shouted before running away through the crowd.

"Hey! I said no escaping!" Red yelled.

The party tried to catch up to Underling but were having trouble getting through the crowd. After a couple of moments Cave came up to them "Is something amiss over here? Has someone else come to try and sabotage the performance?"

"Cave? Why are you here?" Nepgear asked.

"Oh, it's you. Desmond pointed out a disturbance and I came over here knowing that I would be able to move through the crowd better than him." Cave answered.

"You know Desmond?" Nepgear asked.

"Yes. I've known him for quite a while." Cave responded before questioning the group. "Were you all trying to disrupt this concert?"

"That's the one causing trouble! We're just trying to catch her!" IF shouted.

"I see. Leave the chasing to me. Calm down and stop making a scene." Cave stated.

"Whoa, look at that. She's quick on her footsies." Red commented.

"She should be knocking into others. Her model must have a really thin box for hit detection, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"She did say she could move through crowds well. May as well leave it to her, just as she suggested." IF said as she looked in the direction that Cave ran off in.

* * *

The concert ended and the crowd cheered. Red was not so happy "Aww, the concert's over. Thanks to Underling, I missed a good number of her songs…"

Cave walked back up to the group "Oh. Were you able to apprehend the evildoer, Cave?" Nepgear asked.

"My apologies. She outmaneuvered me." Cave answered.

"Wow. Well, it is what it is. She's really showing off her unrivaled skills at running away." IF stated.

"I take it you are acquainted with her?" Cave asked.

"Why, Yes! Miss Underling has been getting in our way quite often." Compa responded.

"Lowee was nearly destroyed because of Underling, nyu." Broccoli added.

"Underling… Is that her official, legal name?" Cave questioned.

"Yeah, it is." Red blurted out.

"Yes, definitely." Nepgear agreed.

"I see. So this Underling character came to Leanbox from Lowee…" Cave thought out loud. "Again, I am Cave, member of the Regal Regiment of Defense for the Leanbox Special Missions Team."

"Member of the RRoD, huh…?" Nepgear pondered.

"Whoa, doesn't that sound really cool? It sounds like some kind of special task force!" Red exclaimed.

"If only. As shorthanded as we are, all we can do is slow the corruption and decay of Leanbox." Cave stated. "Anyway, I reintroduced myself because I wanted to make a formal request. Could you lend us your aid?"

"Like, first aid…?" Compa asked.

"In a sense. I was hoping to use both your experience and, pardon my phrasing, the figurehead of a CPU." Cave answered. "Desmond told me that you all were traveling with him after our initial meetup. He also said that you all would help, but I wanted to ask you all in person."

"Understood. We'll help!" Nepgear said happily.

"Before we just say yes to every single person's request, let's see what they need us to do. Okay?" IF scolded.

"But the people of Leanbox really need our help… We can't leave them alone…" Nepgear responded.

"You remind me of two certain stubborn people I know. I guess we need to gather Shares too, so… all right." IF stated.

"My thanks. I will accompany you for the time being. Once we have a plan, I will seek your aid again." Cave said with a small bow.

"Got it." Nepgear stated.

"You said earlier that Desmond spoted everyone running. Where is he at? We haven't seen him in a while." IF questioned.

"Yes. I asked him to help with security detail at this concert. He is next to the stage." Cave said as she pointed in his direction, before leaving to talk with the man for a moment, then she headed backstage.

Desmond noticed the girls were headed his way, so he walked toward them and waved his hand. "Hey everyone, what's up? What brings you here?"

"We were walking by and heard the concert." IF answered. "Why didn't you tell us that something like this was going on? And that you were working a job?"

"Oh… sorry, didn't think about that. And I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I take on jobs all the time without you knowing." Desmond replied.

"You do huh…" IF started with a sigh "All well, it doesn't matter right now. I'm tired and we need to find a hotel."

"You haven't found one yet?" the man asked.

"No, we were about to look for one when we heard the concert." Nepgear answered.

"Okay, I think I might know where one is… let's go." Desmond stated before walking off as the group followed.

After finding a hotel the girls told Desmond about the meeting with the Oracle and how weird she was acting.

* * *

The next morning the party met up with Cave outside the basilicom. Red was the first to greet her. "So, I was wondering… You were at that idol's concert. Are you her fan or something?"

"It is part of my mission. My task was to act as her security force during her performance." Cave answered.

"Celebrity bodyguard duty doesn't sound like a special task force's job at all, nyu." Broccoli commented.

"Well, the idol, stage name 5pb., is an outspoken supporter of our cause. Her songs raise morale and open the eyes of those blinded by the lies of ASIC. Thus, she is often targeted. Due to the threats against her life, we are constantly deployed to act as her security detail." Cave responded.

"Goodness, I suppose there are a lot of ways to fight oppression." Nepgear said.

"Yeah. I also help with security every now and then, example last night." Desmond stated.

"How often do you do that!? Are you two close!?" Red asked with a glint in her eye.

"Whenever I'm in Leanbox I let Cave know and she'll usually tell me when they need help. As for your other question… I'd say we're friends." He answered with a hand on his chin.

Red clasped onto his arm, jumping around "That means you can let us meet her, right! Right!"

"I don't know, seeing all of you might scare her a bit…" Desmond muttered, Red hearing but not understanding what was said.

"What was that?" She asked as she looked up at him.

"O-Oh, n-nothing. It'd be up to her to form a meet up." He responded as Red finally let go of his arm.

Cave finally spoke back up "I hope to see the day where she can sing, not for a cause, but because she loves to perform. For that to ever occur, order must be restored in Leanbox as soon as possible."

* * *

The party moved through the city, while they were doing so Nepgear noticed someone or rather two. "Huh? Is that Rom and Ram?"

Desmond quickly turned his attention at the mention of the names "What!?" his voice mixed with surprise and sternness.

Ram the first of the twins to respond "Wow, we're even famous here! I hope they want me to scribble on thei-crap, it's Nepgear!"

"Aww, she said "crap," too… Am I really that annoying?" Nepgear questioned.

Desmond placed a hand on her shoulder "You're not annoying… wait, too?"

"I'm happy to see you, Miss Nepgear…" Rom said happily but quietly.

Nepgear let out a sniffle "Thank you, Rom… Desmond." She turned her attention back to the twins What are you two doing in Leanbox?"

"Yes, I would like to know that as well." Desmond said in a stern tone. "Does Mina know you two are out here. Why didn't you call me to let me know you were leaving Lowee, why…"

IF flicked him "Stop talking or they won't be able to answer you."

"Ow, fine…" he pouted.

"We came… to get Shares…" Rom answered.

"Sounds like you're both working very hard, then." Nepgear commented.

"But Miss Nepgear, you're working hard… So I want to, too…" Rom responded.

"Meh! Now you know, okay? We're busy, so leave us alone!" Ram exclaimed mostly toward Nepgear.

Desmond snapped his fingers and gave Ram a bit of a glare "Watch your tone young lady." Ram back up a foot as she nodded.

IF smiled a bit at the spectacle "Don't you just hate it when he calls you that…" Ram eyed IF with a bit of a pout as IF continued to smile until she continued talking. "But, collecting Shares here isn't going to be as easy as you think."

"Huh? What's that mean?" Ram asked, the party gave them the rundown on what was happening. "Our for… warship wreath trick shin repeeled? Dude, I can't even say it. Did you understand, Rom?"

"These kids can't say hard words, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"D-Don't make fun of us, dummy! All this means is that the Chika person is a giant bully, right?" Ram questioned.

"Were it only so simple. Her attitude and actions have shifted over the past few days. It is still too early in this investigation to deem her the "giant bully," as it were." Cave responded.

"O-Okay, but… Oh, I get it! I bet the Chika there now is a big, fat phony!" Ram stated.

"A phony?" Nepgear repeated.

"That might not be a bad thought. From what I've heard that might be the case." Desmond stated as Ram smiled.

"I think that's pretty unlikely. I mean, out of all of us, Cave would've noticed if she was a fake by now." IF commented.

"No. I probably would not notice." Cave said.

"What?" IF asked.

"I remember people mainly as general body shapes. If they look similar, I am confident I would not notice." Cave answered.

"This isn't a good thing to be confident about, though…" Compa stated.

"So, um…" Nepgear hesitated.

"We should look into this, nyu." Broccoli said.

"But how? We don't know how Miss Chika used to act…" Compa stated.

"Ah ha. But I do!" Desmond said a bit jokingly, as he smiled.

"It's also possible that Uni does too. She might have talked with Miss Chika in the past at some point, right?" Nepgear pointed out.

"Sounds good to me. Two people that could confirm a change would be helpful. I just hope she can set her stubborn nature aside and help us." IF responded.

"Want to come with us, Rom and Ram?" Nepgear asked.

Rom was trying to agree with Nepgear before Ram took over saying that they wouldn't go. After that they left Desmond telling them if they needed help to call him. Then the party went in search of Uni. After a bit of looking they found her. Once they approached her they told her what they thought was going on in Leanbox.

"Hmm. You think the Oracle's a fake. Do I have that right?" Uni asked.

"Yes. Had you ever met Miss Chika before coming here recently?" Nepgear responded.

"Informally, but yeah. She didn't strike me as the type to lay down and let ASIC walk all over her." Uni stated.

"Could you please come with us and meet with her again? We could use your help…" Nepgear pleaded.

"Don't you have Desmond for this. I thought we lived her from time to time. Shouldn't he know how she acts?" Uni asked.

"Yes. But two heads are better than one, aren't they? And it would be nice for you to hang with us for a bit." Desmond responded.

"Why should I do it?" Uni stated as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Come on." Desmond said after teleporting behind her and putting his hands on her shoulders. Catching her off guard and causing her to jump a bit.

"W-Would you quit doing that!" Uni screamed.

"I might if you come with us." Desmond responded with a smirk.

"F-Fine, I'll go. Just stop doing that, It's bad for my heart." Uni stated.

"Oh, nonsense. Your heart will be fine, you just got a little startled is all." Desmond said as he walked toward the basilicom in a cheerful manor.

IF walked up to Desmond "How did you get her to agree so easily?"

"It's elementary my dear Iffy. Just catch the tsun off guard and they will falter. And sometimes it works, I wouldn't guarantee it every time." Desmond answered as the party made their way to the basilicom.

* * *

As the party walked into the building Nepgear was the first to speak up. "Hello? Is Miss Chika here?"

"Chika" was startled, not noticing the group that had just entered. "Crap! Er, uh… A-Ahem… Yes, I'm right over here."

"Good, about time. We haven't been able to find you since beating up that monster. Thought you ran away." IF stated.

"Wh-Wh-What? Me, r-run away? I would never…" "Chika" responded stuttering.

"Oh, right. You said you'd tell us all about the Mascot once we got back. So how about it?" Red spoke up.

"Ohhhhh, right… Well, we're investigating it right now, and …uh…" "Chika" started. Uni took a few steps forward allowing herself to be seen. "Ack! The dumb broa—er, I mean, the CPU Candidate of Lastation. Wh-What brings you out here?"

Desmond then stood up and walked to the front of the group "Hey, there Chika. What's up."

"Oh, come on not you too, I mean. H-Hello, and who might you be young sir." "Chika" asked.

Uni the first of the two to speak back up "Oh, you know who I am? I'm honored, since this is our first-time meeting and all."

"Chika" looked like she started to sweat a little "Er, um… Well, as an Oracle, it's my duty to bone up on all the CPU Candidates, so…"

Desmond then took a few steps closer to "Chika" "And what about me, I've been living here on and off for the last three years. I don't think you would have forgotten about me in the few weeks I've been gone. Unless you aren't who you claim you are, "Chika"" Demsond ending his last sentence with a bit of a bite and a deadly glare, as he was less than a foot away from the woman.

"Did she seriously fool you before?" Uni asked.

"Seriously you guys, this is just sad." Desmond agreed after stepping back, but still giving "Chika" a glare.

"Ugh. I'm really ashamed of myself right now." IF stated.

"If my intuition is correct… Oops, my mistake. We did meet a while back, didn't we?" Uni said.

"Oh, what? Really? Man, I've been getting sick with amnesia or something…" "Chika" responded.

"I don't blame you. Who'd want to remember getting beaten up so handily back in Lastation?" Uni fired back.

"Like hell I'd ever forget that! The embarrassment of getting pummeled by you brats was-" "Chika" started before she realized she blew her cover.

"Is that you, Miss Underling?" Compa asked.

Desmond clapped his hands albeit a bit slowly "My, my. You found out she was a fake and knew who she really was. There might be hope for you yet."

"Thank y- hey what do you mean hope for me yet!" Uni questioned as she shouted with anger.

"Don't worry about it, just a joke." He stated as he patted her head.

Uni quickly tried to move from his hand "H-Hey, don't do that." She pouted in her little tsun way.

Nepgear then moved over to Uni and grabbed her hands "That's so amazing, Uni! How did you break her down?"

Uni pulled her hands away "You've gotta be kidding. I'd like to know how you got suckered by her. I mean, it's incredibly obvious."

"Is no one going to acknowledge me already figuring it out before Uni said anything… anyone?" Desmond asked a bit dejected.

Red stuck her hand in the air "I did!"

"Thanks, little buddy." He stated and gave her a head pat. She just smiled and giggled a bit from the praise.

"Dammit! You managed to see through my disguise! But it proves that a lot of you are dumb as rocks!" Underling shouted.

"If you are an imposter, then where is the real Chika? Answer me!" Cave demanded.

"Like hell I'm answering you! I got all I needed from this place, so I'm outta here. Later, idiots!" Underling yelled as she ran off.

"We must give chase. I need to extract Chika's location from her, at all costs." Cave stated.

"No arguments here let's move." Desmond added.

"Hey, wait! You're all leaving the big hero of the day behind without a thank you!?" Uni shouted.

Desmond moved back toward her "A, you're not the big hero. At most Co-big hero. B, I did say thank you remember. And as much as I would love to stay and chat, I gotta go." He then sped back off to regroup with the others.

* * *

The party followed Underling back to a dungeon called the Underverse. The group made their way into the dungeon and ended up losing track of Underling. A few moments latter a heard of dogoos appeared out of nowhere. They ended up jumping on the girl, trying to get places… they shouldn't. Desmond, the only one that wasn't attacked by the dogoos, avoided his eyes. With some words that the girls said caused him to blush slightly. He then had enough and started to increase the temperature of the area melting the dogoos, until they disappeared into data.

IF looked a bit relived but at the same time ticked off. "Why didn't you do that earlier when they first got here?!" she took a few steps toward the man.

"I-I guess I didn't think about it…" he said as he rubbed the back of his head as he turned it slightly to the side.

"I bet he was thinking of some naughty things." Red teased.

"What!" a multitude of people shouted including the young man.

"I-Is that true Desmond?" Nepgear asked timidly.

"N-No, why would you think that!? I even looked away to make sure I didn't see anything weird! Stop saying stupid things Red!" Desmond yelled trying to deny the claim.

"You girls were saying some pervy lines. I wouldn't be surprised if he started to think some crazy things." IF commented, with her arms crossed and eyes closed.

"Let's just put this whole mess behind us. Where's Underling?" Desmond said in haste.

"Aw, nuts. Underling must've gotten away by now…" Red stated as she looked around.

"If she ran directly here, then this is probably a secret ASIC hideout, nyu." Broccoli commented.

"Makes sense. I'm not going home empty-handed after that nonsense. Let's head a bit further in." IF said as she walked ahead.

* * *

After a while of searching in the dungeon Red spotted someone "I spy someone trapped over there."

"That's Chika!" Cave yelled. The party made their way over to the woman. "Are you all right, Chika?"

"Oh… Mmm… Cave…?" Chika slowly spoke.

"Pull yourself together. I'll help you escape from here." Cave stated.

"No, don't worry about me… The flame of life within me is about to be snuffed out… Yes… My only regret… is that I was unable to see my darling Vert before my untimely demise…" Chika said dramatically.

"Goodness, no! You can't die now!" Nepgear shouted.

"There is no cause for distress. She is using her unparalleled talent at "BS-ing" us right now" Cave stated.

"Yeah… she does crap like this more than she should." Desmond added.

"E-Excuse me!? How heartless! I…I really am on the verge of death here… Uh, *cough, cough*" Chika exclaimed, then trying to go back to her façade.

"The verge of death? Really? Doesn't look that way to me." IF commented.

"Still, she must be very weak and malnourished. We should carry her out to someplace safe and sunny." Compa stated.

"True. Let's get her back to the basilicom." Cave added.

"There's no use, I'm telling you… I can't move a single finger. Just leave me behind, and-" Chika started, before getting picked up by Desmond. "H-Hey! What do you think you are doing!?"

"Well, you wouldn't shut up. And we have to fix Leanbox, which starts with you. So, we need to hurry." He responded as he made his way to the exit of the dungeon. But not without a few pouts from Chika along the way.

* * *

After the party arrived back at the basilicom, Chika agreed to a formal introduction. "Sorry about making a scene earlier. I'm Chika Hakozaki, the Oracle of Leanbox. And don't you forget it!"

"Her personality did a 180" IF commented.

"Yeah, it's tough to forget a crazy person like her." Demsond deadpanned.

"H-Hey Desmond!" Chika shouted.

"What… you can be a bit strange." He responded.

"Miss Chika, were you the one who called me here, or was it the fake's doing?" Nepgear asked.

"It was me. I heard a CPU was gathering Shares, and thought it would benefit us to bring you here." Chika answered. "But more importantly, you know my darling Vert, right? Where is she? What happened? Come on! Speak!"

"Uh, um… C-Could you please try to calm down a little? You're acting a bit creepy…" Nepgear said a bit concerned.

"Never mind how YOU feel! Are you withholding information because you want something from me!?" Chika demanded.

Desmond walked up to Chika and flicked her in the head "Quit it, you're freaking her out. You're trying to get her to help you right? Then dial down on the obsession factor."

"Fine." Chika pouted as she turned away.

Nepgear than explained the situation and what they had been doing up to then.

"Now I see. My darling Vert is still held captive in the Gamindustri Graveyard." Chika said saddened.

"Yes. That's why we're looking for the Mascots. We need their help to save the captive CPUs. Miss Chika, would you happen to know where the Leanbox Mascot is?" Nepgear responded.

"Do you doubt my breadth of knowledge and expertise? Of course I… used to… know where it was." Chika stated.

"Of course, you don't." Desmond said with a sigh. "And what knowledge and expertise are you talking about. How to drool over Vert?" he finished with a chuckle.

"H-Hey! Really Desmond, could you not joke around for once!" Chika yelled as she threw a pen at him. Which he suspended in midair, and then proceeded to spin around.

"But it's too fun. Not to mention easy with how much you talk about Vert." He said as he placed the pen back on Chika's desk. "But don't worry girls, she is good at her job. She is the big reason that this nation is still standing after all."

"Did you forget where the Mascot is?" Compa asked.

"Well, right before I was caught by that repulsive ASIC crew, the Mascot was also taken captive." Chika answered.

"Do you think they already destroyed it, then? Like they did back in Lowee?" Red questioned.

"All Nepgear needs is a fragment for it to be repaired, nyu." Broccoli commented.

"No, that seems unlikely. Had it been destroyed, we would have seen significant changes around here." Chika responded.

"Why would they hold off on destroying it?" Compa questioned.

"What am I, a mind reader? With how scattered ASIC's priorities are, it's hard to guess their actions. All I can sense is that they have not destroyed it yet. Meaning, we have a chance to recover it." Chika stated.

"That's the best news we've heard in a while… We have to find it, and quick." Nepgear said.

"First, we need to find some leads. Specifically, we need to find Underling and beat some leads out of her." IF commented.

"If she is as fishy as you describe, then she will surely stand out. I will gather information, also." Cave stated.

"Thanks Cave. But you don't have to worry about it if it's cutting into your time to bodyguard 5pb." Desmond said.

"Do not worry. She is not doing anything for a little while so I have time." Cave responded.

* * *

The party went back to the dungeon called the Underverse to search for Underling and Warechu, after getting tips from citizens. In the depths they started hearing voices, arguing with each other. Nepgear was the first to see one of the owners of the voices and recognized it to be Underling's. "There! I found her!"

"We're all grateful for your loud mouth, Underling. It's so easy to track you down." IF mocked.

"What!? You dumb broads again? How in the hell did you find me in this place!?" Underling yelled.

"We asked citizens for the whereabouts of a sketchy girls and a big rat. It was actually quite easy." Cave responded.

"Don't forget that you're yelling in quite the open space, large enough for the sound waves to reverberate along far distances. Or if you're too stupid to know what that means, then maybe you should just shut up for once." Desmond explained, as Warechu mooned over Compa.

"Mister Mouse, will you please return the Mascot to us?" Compa asked.

"Yeah, totally! Anything for you. Want me to bubble-wrap it, chu?" Warechu replied instantly without thinking.

Underling smacked the rat "This ain't no time to turn on your rat charm, you idiot! You broads think we'd give in that easily?"

"Nope! That's why we came prepared to beat you senseless and take it back by force!" Red shouted.

"You have overstayed your welcome in Leanbox. Prepare yourselves." Cave stated.

"You're the ones who better be prepared…! Don't think this is gonna be the same fight as usual!" Underling shot back.

The battle started… And ended the same way as the others. A massive loss for the ASIC members.

"Dammit… I lost again…" Underling muttered.

"Slapped silly by my angelic Compa… This is bliss, chu…!" Warechu yelled.

"So much for a different fight huh." Desmond stated as he looked at the two.

"They need to gain some perspective about how weak they are, nyu." Broccoli added.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Nepgear asked the disc of green.

"I am fine. Thank you. May I ask who you are?" The disc responded.

"Oh! Hello, I'm Nepgear. I'm Planeptune's CPU Candidate, and I want your help to save the world." Nepgear answered.

"Um, Ge-Ge? That's a little too much summarizing…" Compa commented.

"No, that was plenty of information. I sense the other Mascots' powers within her. Save the world, hmm?" Green Disc stated.

"So you got what I was trying to say? Then…!" Nepgear started before being interrupted by Cave.

"Hold. Protocol dictates we must first gain Chika's approval. Let us return to the basilicom, and then…"

"Hey, what the hell, you guys!? Don't ignore me just because the battle ended!" Underling shouted interrupting Cave.

"Well, this is a new pattern. I thought you would've run away by now." IF stated.

"Yeah, no joke. You're usually the first to bolt after a loss." Desmond added.

"Keep bugging us and I'll take you to the cleaners again." Red said.

"Shut it, squirt! I still got an ace up my sleeve!" Underling yelled.

"That's… a Mascot disc!? Where did you obtain that?" Green Disc questioned.

"Oh, this? You curious? It was a gift from my totally badass boss. I was told to use it and get rid of you all!" Underling responded as she used the item. "Huh? Whooooa… Oh yeah, this is frickin' great… This power… it's incredible!"

Warechu also using the same item "Now I might be strong enough to… Yeah. Waiting patiently is just one form of love. Time for force, chu!"

"I sense their newfound power. No, the power is merely being imbued on their bodies, yet…" Cave started.

"Underlings are always gonna be underlings, so it doesn't matter if she powers up! I'm gonna win!" Red shouted as she ran and attacked Underling.

"Huh? What was that, a tickle? It looked like you were trying to hit me, but…" Underling said oozing with confidence in the power from the disc.

"Uh-oh! Did I mess up or something?" Red questioned.

"Here, let me show you what a real attack looks like. Take this!" Underling yelled hitting Red back a distance.

"Oh, no! Red!?" Nepgear shouted in concern.

Desmond caught Red before she could hit the floor. "Gotcha'." He looked back up at Underling "Do you really want me to hurt you?" he said with a low growl.

"How dare you abuse the power of us Mascots…!" Green Disc said in anger.

"Hahaha… I can win… I can finally win this! It's payback time, bitches!" Underling yelled.

"Mmmm… My lovely, sexy, cute, dear angel Compa…" Warechu said rather disturbingly.

"E-Ew… Please stay at least three steps away from me, Mister Mouse!" Compa stated.

"C-Compa I suggest you get back." Desmond said with a sweat drop.

"This sucks. Underling activated her Limit Break, nyu." Broccoli commented.

"I wish we could run, but I kind of doubt she'd let this opportunity slip by her." IF stated.

"And after we were finally able to save the Mascot, too…" Nepgear said sadly.

"Then I'll just have to take them out." Desmond stated as he moved to the front of the group and held his hands shoulder width apart. Electricity then flowed between his hands and started to from a small ball in the middle. But he stopped when he heard a voice ring out.

"Never give up! Never surrender!" he recognized the voice to be 5pb.'s.

"That lovely voice… 5pb.! Why are you here?" Cave asked.

"Um, well… Miss Chika asked me to come help, so…" she answered.

"I see. One could not ask for better reinforcements." Cave stated.

"Hey! What's up Ly…" Desmond stopping for a second, glancing at the other party members "5pb. Thanks for the help."

"No problem Desmond." She replied in a happy tone.

Underling finally spoke back up "You're the tone-deaf idol broad!? Hahaha, what the hell? Are you gonna sing me to death?"

"Yes. I'm here to sing my song. It's all I can do to help…" 5pb. answered.

"Oh, well great! Let's hear it. Let me hear you sing their dirge!" Underling shouted.

"I-If you insist! Please listen to my song!" 5pb. said before starting.

"This shit's ridiculous. May as well crush those hopes right now! Time to… huh…?" Underling started before noticing something was off.

Warechu also noticed the strength leaving "Wh-What gives? My powers, chu…"

The two ASIC members went back to normal "Seriously, what the hell, man!?" Underling yelled, trying to understand the situation.

"It's a lovely song… I feel like it's filling me with a surge of energy…" Nepgear stated.

"Yep! I feel like I could even do brain surgery!" Compa said.

"Compa, you're a nurse not a doctor. Please don't attempt to do that." Desmond said with a sweat drop.

Red noticed something about her injury "Huh? It's not just a feeling. The ouchie from that kick is disappearing…"

"This isn't some kind of group hallucination, is it?" IF pondered.

"5pb.'s songs have special powers. It strengthens the just and weakens the corrupt and wicked." Cave answered.

"N-No way! That's so cheap! I won't let some lame-ass pop song beat me!" Underling screamed, as she charged toward 5pb.

"Oh, I don't think so." Desmond stated as he stepped between the two and slammed his hands to the ground. Which in return sent a large wave of electricity toward Underling that lifted her up.

"W-Wh-What the hell are you doing!?" Underling tried to move, even tried to get back to the ground but couldn't. "Let me down!" she spun herself around to look at the man.

"Your wish is my command. But I should warn you. You should be careful of what you wish for." After Desmond said that, he snapped his fingers and caused Underling to fly across the dungeon and smash into a wall. Dropping her onto the floor. He then turned to the rat, which looked a bit skittish.

"S-Stay back, chu!" Warechu tried to command as he stepped back.

"Pfft, fat chance." Desmond stated right before letting an electric charge surge through him to his leg. Right before kicking the rodent far into to air. While it was in the air Desmond sent a fireball at it, causing the rat to gain a few burns before landing near Underling. He walked back to the rest of the group while popping his neck "That was a nice little stress reliver."

"Gotta admit, our backs were against the wall for a minute there." IF stated.

"Hmmm. I don't know maybe. Depends on if that attack would've taken them out. If not then we might've been in trouble." Demsond responded.

"Thank you very much, 5pb. Really!" Nepgear said with a smile.

"H-Huh?" 5pb. looked at the nearby Nepgear and shrieked and ran behind Cave and Desmond. Who were standing near each other.

"Sh-She ran away from me… Do I smell funny…?" Nepgear asked.

"I knew this would happen." Desmond muttered, while holding a palm to his face.

"What do you mean?" IF asked.

"Forgive her. When not performing, she is a very shy individual." Cave answered.

"I…I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run, but…!" 5pb. tried to apologize while peering between the shoulders of the people she was hiding behind.

"A shy girl can sing in front of a packed audience, nyu?" Broccoli questioned.

"W-Well, it's like… I flip a switch inside of me, and then… B-But usually, no, I'm too scared…" she responded.

Desmond turned and put a hand on 5pb.'s shoulder "Calm down, we don't need you fainting or something." She took a deep breath and nodded.

"Whatever the case, you helped us save the Mascot, Miss 5pb." Compa stated.

"Yes. I am grateful to you all. I don't know how I can ever repay you." Green Disc said.

"Don't worry about it. We were just fixing the problem that ASIC created." Nepgear responded.

"Both Chika and the Mascot are safe. I pray this will put Leanbox back on the path toward order." Cave commented.

"Our work here is done. Let's get back to the Basilicom." IF stated and the party left the dungeon and made their way to the city.

* * *

Chika greeted the party once the walked into the basilicom "Oh. Looks like you were able to save the Mascot, after all."

"Yes, but… We were hoping that we could take it with u—" Nepgear started.

"Yeah, sure." Chika interrupted.

"Huh? Is it really okay?" Compa asked.

"Hang on. You're not another imposter, are you?" IF questioned.

"She's not, watch…" Desmond whispered to IF.

"Of course not. I do have one condition, though. You must save my darling Vert post-haste!" Chika answered.

"And there's the proof." The young man whispered again, to which IF chuckled a bit.

"Yes, we plan to. We won't rest until we save everyone." Nepgear stated.

"But Miss Chika, will Leanbox be safe without the Mascot's protection?" Compa asked.

"It's just for a little while, no? I can handle things around here while you rescue my darling Vert. I normally have Desmond to help but it'll be fine. It's all for the sake of my priorities, and my dearest sister Vert is the top of the top!" Chika responded.

"Oh, I see… Well, if that's really okay with you, then…" Nepgear said.

"Does it matter? If you ask me, she's way easier to work with than any of the others." IF stated.

"Yeah, just as long as you're not trying to hang out with Vert. She gets jealous rather easily." Desmond commented.

"If the Oracle says so, then there is no issue with my departure. I desire to join you, myself. After witnessing the abuse of Mascot discs, I cannot let the perpetrators off easy." The disc of green stated.

"Thank you very much!" Nepgear said with glee.

"But, wait. I don't see 5pb. Where is that kid?" Chika pondered.

"Well, she's been standing behind Cave this whole time. She's been trying to keep me from pointing her out. And up till now she's been cute enough to make it work." Desmond stated while pointing at the girl.

5pb.'s face grew red from embarrassment "D-Desmond!" she shouted.

"What? You deserve a compliment every now and then. It's not a big deal." He responded.

"Still…" She pouted, then peered from the side of Cave's back toward Chika. "H-Hello…"

"Oh. Just so you're here. This involves you, too, so listen up." Chika started. "ASIC's teachings spread quickly while I was captive. We must take drastic action to reverse this."

"O-Oh, okay… So, um, what does that have to do with me…?" 5pb. asked.

"I need you for my plan to work. We're going to hold a giant concert, with you as the headliner!" Chika answered.

"Ok, that sounds good. And since we have some time to kill till the concert. I'm gonna go to my guest room and rest for a bit." Desmond said mostly toward Chika, then turned to the rest of the group "I guess you all can do whatever you want. You could play some games in the room I stay in, if you're quiet. Or just roam around, talk, whatever… my point is don't be loud… thanks." He then moved off to his room, with a wave.

* * *

After x number of hours of setup and prep time, the concert was ready to start. And of course, the party was there.

"Goodness, look at that crowd…" Nepgear stated as she gazed at the sea of people.

"After seeing this, I get what Chika was going for. This could fix the Leanbox situation in a single go." IF stated.

"It made perfect sense to me! After all, it's a concert with my wife candidate!" Red exclaimed.

Before Desmond could comment on Red's statement, 5pb. walked up to the group. Clearly in her idol mindset, not being shy. "Hello, everyone! I'm glad that you all made it."

"Hello, Miss 5pb. Thank you for inviting us." Compa stated.

"It's no problem, Desmond has helped us out a lot over the past few years. I wanted to do something nice for his friends. And by the way he was talking earlier, he probably would've made you all come anyway. So, I wanted to invite you myself." She responded.

"You have some surprise guests, nyu." Broccoli said as she sat on Gema and gestured to the extra girls with the group.

"It's not like I wanted to come to this concert or anything." Uni stated, looking a bit annoyed.

"Of _course_ , you didn't." Desmond said sarcastically while smiling. Uni just moved her head to the side.

"My first concert… I'm so excited… Aren't you, Ram…?" Rom asked.

"Duh! We're gonna brag all about this to Mina when we go home!" Ram answered.

"Are they also CPU Candidates? I'd love it if you would all listen to my songs." 5pb. said in a chipper tone.

"The spotlight is all yours, 5pb." Cave stated in her usual stoic manner.

"Oh, whoops! I forgot that I'm the opening act. I better get going. I'll see you all later, okay?" 5pb. said as she started to make her way to the stage.

"She looked really pumped up about this concert, huh?" Nepgear questioned.

"Makes you wonder where she hides that shy nature of hers." IF stated.

"She is even more peppy for this particular concert. My heart is pounding with excitement." Cave said sounding rather excited, despite still sounding mostly stoic.

"It might be due to all the new people she's met recently. It might edge that side of her on even more, knowing that new friends are listening to her." Desmond tried to make a guess to the slight change in mood within the idol.

5pb. was up on stage, looking at the crowd, after finishing a song. Before bringing the mic to her mouth. "Hey, everyone! So, are we having fun yet!?" The crowd shouted back with a multitude of responses. "Hearing that makes me so happy! But before I sing my next song, let's make a special promise! I'm able to put on concerts and sing for you because of the CPUs watching over us all. If you really love me and my music, you'll love the CPUs too, right? Don't be fooled by anyone else!" The fans responded just how they all wanted them too, cheering for the CPUs.

"Goodness… The concert hall is shaking from their cheers…" Nepgear stated.

"Hook, line, and sinker." Desmond said with a large grin on his face. "Sometimes it can be too easy in situations like this."

"This plan is gonna be a big, happy success!" Compa said.

"Just as planned. But the real treat is still to come. This next move will end ASIC's plans for good…" Chika stated.

"Okay, that's it for me! Next up is a very special guest. Leanbox's sexy boy band Juniper!" 5pb. introduced the group. As the group came out the crowd reacted… well, very negatively. Some fans saying that if supporting the CPUs meant supporting the boy band, they were out. "Huh? Wh-Wh-What? Um, um, what're we gonna do? I never expected this…" After a few more moments 5pb. rushed the band off the stage.

"M-My perfect plan failed…? What could have possibly went wrong? Idols are all the rage…" Chika said confused.

"Eek! D-Don't push me, please… What should we do? Th-They might riot at this rate…!" Nepgear questioned.

"The plan backfired pretty hard, huh?" IF stated.

Desmond called Chika in a bit of an annoyed mood. "What the hell were you thinking!?"

"M-My plan was to use idols to help with Leanbox." She answered.

"Do you not know the phrase pander to the crowd? Look out here, it's mostly men, why in Gamindustri would you get a crappy boy band!? None of them want to see, what appears to be homosexual, men on stage when they could see a cute girl!" He stopped yelling for a moment.

"Well sorry, I didn't think about it." Chika replied.

"Think of a way to fix it, or we're about to be in a big pinch." Desmond said as he hung up his phone. He turned to the rest of the girls. While he was yelling at Chika, the girls decided to take the situation into their own hands. The Candidates moved toward the stage. "Did I miss something?"

"You'll see." IF answered.

5pb. not sure in what to do looked around in distress, before "Leave this situation to us, 5pb.!" Nepgear shouted as the Candidates moved on stage.

"Nepgear? And the other CPU Candidates?" 5pb. was surprised to see them.

"this had better work. I'm going to have some choice words with you if I end up looking stupid, Nepgear!" Uni said firmly.

"Pssh! With how totally rad we are, we'll collect all their Shares. Let's kick some butt, Rom!" Ram stated.

"I'm embarrassed… But… I'm gonna do my best…" Rom added.

"U-Um, hello everyone! I have an announcement to make!" Nepgear shouted to the crowd. The crowd have mixed reactions at first. "Um… Hi, I'm Nepgear. I'm the CPU Candidate of Planeptune."

Uni introduced herself "I'm Uni, from Lastation. Y-You better stop leering at me, or I'll never forgive you!"

Ram introduced herself and Rom "Howdy, everyone! I'm Ram, and this is my twin sister, Rom. It's super cool to meet you!"

"Uh-huh…" Rom added. The crowd started to gain more interest in the Candidates after their introductions.

"U-Um, please watch us as we sing and dance for you. We aren't pros, but I hope you can enjoy it…!" Nepgear stated.

Desmond looked at the stage "So, that's their plan, huh? Well, It's better than Chika's. Do well girls." The Candidates started their show. After they were done the audience was dead silent.

"Wh-What the heck, Nepgear? They're stone silent. How are you going to fix this?" Uni asked.

"Huh? Are these dummies stupid? I mean, how cute are me and Rom!?" Ram yelled.

"Are we… not cute enough…?" Nepgear questioned.

Desmond, close enough to hear the girls. Decided to bring his palm to his face. 'That's not what you should be questioning, if anything it should be your performance. There might be some people who don't like amateur idols in the crowd.'

The audience then exploded in favor of the CPUs. "Y-Yay! We did it, Uni! They love us, they really love us!" Nepgear shouted.

"But… I hear more of them calling your name than mine. I must have been too far back or something…" Uni stated.

"Hey, you better put your faith in Lowee, too! You hear me?" Ram said to the crowd.

"Please believe in us…" Rom added.

"Thank you for coming today! I hope you'll continue to support us as we grow! Thanks again!" Nepgear stated as she waved to the crowd.

The girls walked off stage and toward where everyone else was at. "Did you see how awesome we were, Desmond!?" Ram shouted.

"Did you, did you…" Rom added, bobbing up and down.

"Yes, I did." He said before patting the heads of the young girls. He turned his head to the other two Candidates "You all did great. It's definitely a weight of the shoulders of Chika and I, to try to find a way to fix this place." He then walked up to Nepgear and Uni and placed a hand on their heads, smiling. Nepgear smiled from the praise but also had a small blush. While Uni looked like the praise was foreign to her, looking shocked and tried to back away as he lifted his hand up.

* * *

After the concert, the party made their way back to the basilicom. "Well done, girls. Everyone seemed quite enamored with you. Naturally, my plan was a success." Chika stated.

Desmond looked at her "What the hell are you talking about!? If it weren't for these girls, _your_ plan would've ruined everything! Seriously, boy bands, that's just crap!"

"He's right you know, if it wasn't for them you'd be quelling a mass otaku riot right now." IF commented.

"That was so embarrassing. I'm never doing something like that again. But I do feel that we got a lot of Shares out of it, so it wasn't a total waste. Back to Lastation I go!" Uni stated.

"We should go home too, Rom. Mina is gonna be so proud, she might buy us a new game!" Ram said. Rom looked rather happy at her sister's comment.

"Oh… Everyone's going home?" Nepgear asked.

"Stop making that pouty face. It's not like I want to, but… I have my own things to do. Bye." Uni responded.

"Bye-bye, Miss Nepgear…" Rom said in her quiet demeanor.

"Stupid Rom, don't say bye to her! C'mon, we're leaving!" Ram shouted.

"Where do you think you're going you two? First Ram if you keep talking like that to your sister, I make sure Mina doesn't get you a new game. Secondly, you don't think that you'll get away without a hug, do you?" Desmond stated, before the twins made their way to him for a hug. Then they went on their way out of the basilicom.

"And there they go again…" Nepgear said sadly.

"Aww, don't let it get you down. You'll see them again, I'm sure of it." Compa commented.

"Is this fine, Chika? They gathered Shares from ASIC, but Leanbox's Shares are at an all-time low." Cave asked.

"Better than letting ASIC have them. And once my darling Vert returns, she'll get them back overnight." Chika answered. "As for you all… What's your next step?"

"Well, we got all the Mascots…" Red started.

"Right. It's time for us to go back to Planeptune and come up with our next plan of attack." IF stated.

"I have high hopes for you all. Keep your promise and bring back my darling sister, ASAP." Chika said.

"Don't forget she's not really your sister…" Desmond said as he started to walk away, waving.

"Please leave it to us. We'll be going now…" Nepgear commented.

"U-Um!" 5pb. stuttered.

"Oh, 5pb." Nepgear said.

"Good… I caught you before you left…" 5pb. started. "Um, your impromptu concert was really inspiring! Watching you four on stage was so exciting!"

"G-Goodness, we were nothing compared to you…" Nepgear responded.

"Sure, you all might not be _as_ good as her in execution. But you four did great, for pulling it out of your rear ends. It also did wonders on that crowd about to riot." Desmond stated.

"Don't say that. I was helpless to stop them going berserk… I'm so ashamed… B-But, I don't want to feel like that again, so… please take me with you!" 5pb. commented.

"What is the meaning of this?" Cave questioned.

"I want my songs to be heard by people outside of Leanbox. I want to sing for the entire world… I'm not sure how far I'll make it on my own, but I want to keep supporting everyone, so, please…" she answered.

"If you wanted to do that, why didn't you tell me? You know I work in the other nations. I could find venues to host concerts. But besides that, welcome to party." Desmond said before walking up to 5pb. and giving her a hug. Which caused her face become flustered rather quickly. She might have been used to him more than other people over the past few years, but some of his antics still caused her to hide back into her "shell".

"Welcome to the club, 5pb!" Red added.

"Yes, you're more than welcome to come with us." Nepgear stated.

"My, my. I suppose I will just have to put more effort into maintaining the status quo here, then." Cave commented.

"I'm so sorry, Cave, but…" 5pb started.

"No need to speak. Your songs are larger than Leanbox can hold. Do your best out there." Cave interjected. 5pb thanked her.

The party stayed in the basilicom for the night and would leave for Planeptune in the morning.

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter of my story. Leave a review and let me know what you think. As always have a good day.  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**Welcome to another chapter in my story. Not much that I can think about for me to put here at this time, so on to review responses.**

 **ARSLOTHES: You'll just have to wait and find out... Mainly because I'm not 100% sure myself yet, who I'm pairing him with or if there is going to be just one pairing.**

 **RayGaming: Yes, I do plan on going to Re;Birth 3 story after Re;Birth 2. And after 3 onto Mega Dimension. Eventually... once I reach that far.**

 **blue555Nexus: The reason the gathering of ship parts was short was because, getting them in the game was very minimal. You go to two dungeons, go to a certain spot for event and leave. I just didn't see the need to waste time on that part. Glad you enjoy the story.**

 **RedBurningDragon: I have not seen Hunter x Hunter, probably should at some point. I'll probably at least take a look at the ability to see what it is. So, thanks for the suggestion of a possible ability.**

 **And now to the chapter.**

* * *

The party woke up the next morning and begun to get ready to leave for Planeptune. Desmond made breakfast, pancakes and bacon. After eating they went back to their rooms to gather their things. Desmond opened the door to his room and saw 5pb. walking down the hallway, he waved her over. After she walked in the room he closed the door and turned to her. "Hey, Lyrica how are you doing this morning?"

"I'm doing good. What did you need?" she asked. They both sat on the bed.

He took a large sigh "Okay, I just want to make sure you know what you're getting into and that you still want to do this. I want to make sure you're as safe as possible. We'll be going up against some tough opponents, we're going to be on the move a lot as well until we get the CPUs back, possibly longer and you'll be in danger throughout this time. Do you still want to go?"

It looked like she was taking in the information, thinking it over before looking back at the young man. Confidence in her eyes "Yes. This is something that I have to do."

Desmond just sat there for a few moments, his face broke into a large grin "I figured you'd say that. You can be surprisingly stubborn at times. I guess it's that idol side of you." He chuckled "Come here." He used one arm to pull her into a hug and placed the other on her head. "It's great to have you along." He let go of her "Now that you're coming, I must warn you that there is a chance that the group may or may not ask you questions. In your line of work, you'll probably be fine. Also, the short busty one named Red is… well… she likes women. So, be warry of her, she might try to do something. But, she is a kind person at least."

Lyrica nodded at the advice "Okay, that's all good. I'm just excited to be able to go out into the world and let more people her my songs."

Desmond smiled at the girl before standing up "Well, we need to get a move on. So, go ahead and get your things together." 5pb. got up and walked to the door. "See ya in a few."

"Okay." She waved and went back to her room. He closed the door and sat back on the bed for a few minutes before gathering his things.

* * *

The party gathered at the front door and said their goodbyes and then headed out. After walking through the streets for a bit Nepgear got a call on her N-Gear. "Oh, Histoire's calling me… Hello, this is Nepgear."

The call being put on speaker allowed everyone to hear "Greetings, Nepgear. Where are you right now?" Historie asked.

"Leanbox. We got the Mascots help, and we were about to head back to Planeptune." Nepgear answered.

"I see. I apologize for asking you to change your plans, but can you take a trip elsewhere first? The island off the west coast of Planeptune is currently under siege by ASIC troops." Histoire stated.

"That tiny island? Why would they attack there?" IF questioned.

"Is there some super-secret facility on it or something?" Red asked.

"It is merely my assumption, but I believe they plan to build a new base of operations there. If they do, it will become a very real threat against Planeptune and our Shares." Histoire responded.

"So typical. How annoying, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"I have someone dispatched to defend against their attacks, but I would like you to aid her." Histoire commented.

"Understood. We're on our way!" Nepgear shouted as the call ended.

"Okay, I have the coordinates to the island. Let's move." IF stated as the party took off.

* * *

The party arrived at the island and made their way further and further into the island, coming across a town.

"According to the info Histoire gave me there should be a town nearby." Desmond stated as he looked at his phone.

"Oh, isn't that it? Look! I see houses and town-y things!" Red exclaimed while pointing to the buildings.

"You're right. Let's check it out." Nepgear said, as the party moved quickly to the town. A girl stood in their way.

"Back for more, are we!? Just like before, you'll learn that nobody gets past me!" The girl with short red hair said as she jumped forward and attacked the group.

Desmond quickly moved up front, materializing his beam saber blocking the attack. "What the goodness!?" Nepgear shouted out of confusion.

Desmond pushed back the girl "Hmm. You're stronger than you look…" He mentally facepalmed as he saw who the attacker was. "Put your sword down Falcom. Histoire called us out here to back you up."

She hesitated for a second before taking a good look at the group "Oh, it's you all from Lastation. Oops. Egg on my face! I had no idea you'd be my backup. Caught me totally off-guard, haha! So how have your travels been treating you? I hope you weren't in a big rush or-"

"Um, Falcom, could you at least not point your sword at us now?" Nepgear asked.

"Yeah, already mentioned that you should put it down." Desmond commented.

"Whoops. My bad. With all the recent battles, it's sort of become a bad habit." Falcom stated.

"I know what that can feel like." Desmond added.

"You were fighting off the enemy all alone, Miss Falcom? Why?" Compa asked.

"This is my homeland. They just happened to attack while I was here visiting friends." Falcom answered.

"That's amazing… You protected an entire island by yourself… You must be a very strong girl…" 5pb. stated.

"I never thought about it like that. I've only ever beaten up whatever threatens the things I love. Honestly, if you all didn't come, it would only be a matter of time before this place fell." Falcom responded.

"Meaning there's hope now?" IF asked.

"Of course, there is, now that I'm here…" Desmond started before receiving a slap to the back of the head, from IF.

"Try to be serious for a little bit, would ya!" IF shouted, before turning toward Falcom "Were you about to say something?"

"Yeah. I know exactly where that ASIC crew is trying to set up their headquarters. Nip them in the bud, and we'll stop their invasion attempt for good." Falcom answered.

"I like simple, nyu." Broccoli commented.

"Still, I have to protect this town, so would you mind helping me out by hitting the enemy's HQ?" Falcom asked.

"I'm game, let's go bust some heads." Desmond stated cracking his knuckles.

"Leave that to us. You helped us the last time, so now it's our turn to return the favor." Nepgear responded.

Falcom told the party that ASIC was trying to construct a base in the dungeon called Severed Dimension.

* * *

After reaching the dungeon and battling through the place to reach its depths. Suddenly the party heard yelling, as they got closer they recognized the voice to be Underling's. If spoke first "Wow. You again? This is starting to get old."

"I know that bored, tomboy voice… It's you broads! Quit stalking me!" Underling shouted.

"Yeah… we're not stalking you that's for sure. You just happen to be everywhere, we are needed." Desmond commented.

"Miss Underling, did you get a promotion? Wow, congratulations!" Compa stated.

"Aw, that stinks. If she gets promoted, we can't keep calling her Underling…" Red said.

"But it's her name, so this makes for some nice irony, nyu." Broccoli added.

"I know I won't call her anything different. Even if she got promoted she's still an underling." Desmond stated.

"It'd be silly if her underlings called her Underling, wouldn't it? Captain Underling? Underleader…?" Nepgear said.

"Grrr… Stop joking, dammit! You broads know just how to piss me off. Time to face the music!" Underling yelled, as she summoned a dragon to fight for her.

"This pattern really needs something new to keep it fresh. Let's just get rid of her and her idiot followers." IF stated.

"Already on it." Desmond said as he stepped forward and materialized his pistols. He then fired a barrage of shots at the beast. The dragon shot a blast of fire in retaliation, Desmond created an electric shield that surrounded the group. After the fire died down he spoke up "Give me a minute, I want to try something." The others nodded. IF, Nepgear, and Red took the front, while 5pb. and Compa stood near Desmond. He started to focus his energy, trying to concentrate it even more than before, trying to increase its power. He picked up a nearby rock and held it in his left palm. The color of his electricity changed from yellow to a deep blue. The dragon was charging for another breath attack, when Desmond yelled at the others "Get back!" The others dashed back away from the dragon and the path of the young man. He held his arms in front of him, left palm open, with the rock laying on it. His right, formed into a fist, behind the rock. He finished the build-up of energy and brought all of it to his arms, while simultaneously hitting the rock. Causing it to fly multiple times the speed of sound, creating a massive sonic boom, hitting the dragon in the head, annihilating it. After the dragon disappeared into data, Desmond nearly fell over and was breathing rather heavily.

"Are you okay?" Compa asked.

"I'm fine… just a lot more energy being let out at once then I'm used to. I just need a few minutes." He responded.

"Am I the only one who noticed the change in Desmond's attack?" IF questioned.

"The change in color, I saw that too. What's up with that?" Nepgear asked the man.

"Well, I charged up my power, trying to condense it so more it could become more powerful. And because of that, I think that's why it happened. Almost like a power up or something." He responded.

Red ran around for a moment "Score, we won! Uh, wait… Where'd Underling go?"

"Um, I…I think I saw her running away while we were fighting…" 5pb. answered.

"Maybe her promotion let her add more skill points to her agility." IF commented.

"Skill point distribution aside, the island must be safe now. Let's go back and see Falcom." Nepgear said. And the party left the dungeon and went back to the small town.

* * *

After reaching the town outer limits, the saw Falcom run to them "So, you all really did it?" Falcom asked.

"I doubt they'll try another siege without a lot of planning." IF stated.

"That's great news. Thanks for the help." Falcom responded.

"No problem. We did what needed to be done." Nepgear said.

"What will you do now, Miss Falcom?" Compa asked.

"I wonder. Maybe wander around on a new adventure? Although, this may not be the best time for that… With all the damage ASIC ended up causing, I should stay here and rebuild the town first." Falcom answered.

"That sounds like a start, I hope it all gets done quick." Desmond commented.

"Okay. Good luck. We'll do our best to keep the bad guys out of your back yard!" Nepgear exclaimed.

"Sounds good. Thanks again. If you need help, you be sure to give me a holler, okay?" Falcom stated.

* * *

The party left the island and headed back for the mainland, for the main city of Planeptune. Once inside the basilicom, Nepgear greeted Histoire. "We're home, Histoire."

"Welcome back, all of you. That must have been quite the adventure for you." Histoire responded.

"Wow, this is Planeptune's basilicom? The other ones were nice, but this is definitely the coolest of all." Red exclaimed.

"I wonder how many people would be able to fit in this giant place if I held a concert here…" 5pb. questioned.

"You two should stop hanging around with your mouths hanging open. You look like country bumpkins, nyu." Broccoli stated.

IF ignored the others and continued the conversation with Histoire "Just like you asked, we've secured the help of all the nations' Mascots."

"So I can sense. Also, with the Shares you have regained, we have been creating a new Sharicite." Histoire responded.

"Once that's made…" IF started.

"Correct. We can once again attempt to rescue the CPUs." Histoire interjected.

"Yippee-Skippee!" Compa cheered.

"Finally… It's been so long." Desmond said as he gazed upward with a thoughtful look.

"We're saving the older CPUs? Dude, I can't wait to see my more mature wifeys…!" Red shouted.

"I might get the chance to perform in front of all four CPUs…!" 5pb. thought out loud.

"One small step for us, one slightly bigger step toward world peace, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"This time, I won't fail…" IF said.

"Yeah, that means we _all_ go together. Unlike last time." Desmond stated and glared a little at her.

"Sorry about that… you were taking so long and we couldn't wait" IF responded with scratching the back of her head.

"Um… Please wait a moment!" Nepgear blurted out.

"What is it, Ge-Ge?" Compa asked.

"Um, the other CPU Candidates… Maybe we should have them come with us, too…" Nepgear answered.

"Was that not already part of the original plan?" Histoire questioned.

"They all refused. It'd be a waste of calories to traipse all over trying to get them to agree now." IF answered for Nepgear.

"I guess, but…" Nepgear started before a cell phone rang.

"Oh, hold on. It's one of my phones. "Intelligence Bureau Cutie" is calling me. Hey, what's up?" IF said before answering the cellular device. "Huh? You're kidding! Okay. Okay, sounds good. You be careful, too. Bye."

"What's with that name? Did you put that in or is that what they call them self? Because, if you made that up. It might raise some questions, or answer some." Desmond joked with a chuckle. IF shot him a glare, clearly not enjoying Desmond's joking in the situation.

"Not now Desmond." She shot back partly in anger.

"What is it, Iffy? You look like a sourpuss right now." Compa asked.

"Of course I do. ASIC activity in Lowee exploded. Over 90 percent of their Shares were stolen away." IF answered.

"That many!? Absurd… What could have happened there?" Histoire questioned.

"She didn't have that much intel. It really must've happened out of the blue." IF responded.

"Do you know if Rom and Ram are okay?" Nepgear asked.

"Weren't you listening? The Guild hardly has any info yet." IF shot back quickly.

"I cannot be certain, but if so many Shares were taken, the CPUs will present some serious side effects." Histoire stated.

"Oh, no…" Nepgear said quietly.

"This must take priority, despite it being a different nation. It may impact our overall strategy. Creating the Sharicite will take some time, so I ask that you all go and investigate this incident." Histoire commented.

"Okay, we will. I just hope those two are okay…" Nepgear responded.

5pb. looked at Desmond, who had his eyes closed, fists clenched, and teeth locked. Trying to do all he could not to explode from the new info. She moved a bit closer before speaking "Are you ok, Desmond…"

"No…" He answered through his teeth. The temperature of the room started to rise "No, no, no, no, no!" he yelled at the top of his lungs out of rage. Releasing a small burst of electricity around him. "What the hell are those bastards doing over there for this to happen! If either one of them are hurt, I'll skin those ASIC assholes alive!" He then started making his way toward the exit.

"Where are you going?" IF asked.

"You all get your things together. I'm making my way to Lowee. See ya there." Desmond answered before leaving the room.

"Man, I'm not sure if I've seen him that mad before. I wouldn't want to be anyone in ASIC right now." IF commented, as the other girls nodded in agreement. "We should hurry. I don't think we should leave him alone in that state for long."

* * *

Desmond, in his enraged mental state, made his way to Lowee on foot. Not thinking about the chance to use transport. As he made his way to the other country, he went through several dungeons. He slashed, shot, burned through any monster that stood in his way, most of the creatures dissolved into data. Leaving nothing in his wake.

Once he finally reached Lowee, he made his way to the basilicom. By then he had cooled down some. Once he reached the doors, he burst through and moved further in. Mina was the first to meet him "O-Oh, hello Desmond. Thank you for coming."

"Where are they?" He asked in haste.

"They're in their room." She answered.

"Thanks." He quickly moved to the twin's room. Before reaching it, the door opened. Ram stumbled out of it, breathing heavily. She looked weak, pale, and concerned.

"D-Desmond…?" Ram said quietly at first before stumbling over to the young man, embracing him. She started to cry softly as she spoke "H-Help… Rom. She can barely stay awake… whenever she does."

Desmond placed a hand on her head before using his other arm to hug her. "Of course, I will… I'll help both of you get back to normal." He let go of the young girl and walked into to the room and stood by the bed. He looked at Rom, in a coma like state. It ate at him from the inside, seeing them at such a weak point. He knelt and placed a hand on the sleeping girl's head. "We'll get you two fixed up… the other girls will be here soon… we'll make everything right again…" he then started to fall to the ground 'I used… to much…' he thought before blacking out.

Ram rushed to his side, shaking him "Get up, get up…! Desmond! Are you okay!? Get up, please! Not you too! Come on big brother get up!" she started to cry. Mina heard the commotion, and came in to see what was going on.

After seeing Desmond on the floor, she walked over to him and asked Ram who next to him "What happened?"

"H-He was… checking on Rom… and then just fell." She answered through fits of tears.

"It appears he overexerted himself. This isn't the first time he's done this. He'll be okay, just a few hours of rest. Knowing him he most likely blew up in a fit of fury when he heard that you two were in danger." Mina stated as she placed a hand on Ram's back calming her down.

"O-Okay." Ram responded as she started to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Let's go to the kitchen, I'll get you a snack." Mina said as she stood up.

"Thanks Mina." She said as she followed the Oracle.

* * *

About half an hour later the rest of the party arrived at the basilicom, and made their way through the doors. Nepgear the first to speak "Hello?"

"Oh, if it isn't you girls. I was just expecting Desmond to come by. So, what brings you back to Lowee?"

"What's the deal? You look like crap, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"I do? My apologies… I haven't been able to get much sleep these past few days." Mina responded.

"Are things that bad?" Compa asked.

"What about Rom and Ram? Are they doing okay?" Nepgear added.

"No…We're not, dummy…" Ram answered as she walked in.

"Oh, dear. She looks very sick…" 5pb. commented.

"Ram, where's your sister?" Nepgear asked.

"Sleeping. She's asleep more than she's awake, ever since that day." Ram responded.

""That" day? What day? What's going on here, exactly? Where's Desmond at? He left way before us, I expected him to be here already." IF questioned.

"We're unsure, ourselves. We only know that we suddenly lost a great deal of Shares, leading to this. And Desmond did arrive earlier, but… he won't be getting up for a while." Mina answered.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Red asked.

"It appears that he overworked himself to the point of exhaustion, and passed out after arriving. He is currently in his room." She replied.

"Got it. At least we know he's safe. We should investigate the cause of the drop in Shares first, and then…" IF started before getting interrupted.

"Please slow down, IF. Rom and Ram's health comes first." Nepgear stated. Ram was caught off guard at the mention of the help.

"How can we help sick CPUs?" Red asked.

"By getting their Shares back. If we do that, the two of them should get better, I think…" Nepgear said.

"Get ready to rinse and repeat if the Shares are stolen away again, nyu." Broccoli commented.

"I know, but… Hmm, Miss Mina? Do you have the equipment needed to craft Sharicite here?" Nepgear questioned.

"Y-Yes, all basilicoms do. I know the method to make it, but why do you ask?" she replied.

"If we recover some Shares, can you make it into Sharicite immediately? Is it possible in small amounts?" Nepgear asked.

"Fine. Not like you'd change your mind, anyway…" IF scoffed.

"Can you really save Rom…?" Ram asked.

"Not just her. You, too. I'll go get some Shares right away, okay?" she responded.

"W-Wait a moment, please! I appreciate this, but we couldn't possibly ask for your help again…" Mina stated.

"Don't worry. We want to help." Nepgear replied.

"But someone not from Lowee helping in our affairs puts us at a global disadvantage, and…" Mina started.

"So are you saying we should sit back and watch those two suffer!?" Nepgear questioned.

"N-No, I'd love your help, but as an Oracle, I must consider the political implications, so…" she started again.

"Don't force your kindness. Honor their decision, nyu." Broccoli said.

"Honor their decision? But then, what choice do we have left?" Nepgear asked.

"Compromise and negotiate a deal that both parties can agree on, nyu." She answered.

"Negotiate, huh? Okay, I get it! Miss Mina, we'd like to help Rom and Ram. But in turn, I ask that you have both CPU Candidates assist us in our journey." Nepgear said.

"Is that really a good deal for you? It sounds like I'd be the only one to benefit from that." Mina responded before Ram cut in.

"Accept it! C'mon, stop talking and save Rom! Please!"

"Ram, you mustn't agree on something that us adults need to discuss!" Mina stated.

"All right, it's a deal, then. I'll go get some Shares, I promise!" Nepgear exclaimed before heading for the exit.

"She really muscled her way through that deal, didn't she? Perhaps I'm not fit to be an Oracle…" Mina said to herself.

"She's definitely gotten stronger, and she knows it. Acting a bit too big for her britches, if you ask me. Anyway, how is it any different if we help you compared to Desmond? He's not exactly from around here." IF asked.

"W-Well, Desmond is a bit of an exception… More like I couldn't get rid of him even if I wanted too. But it's not bad, he's helped us countless times, so it's all fine." Mina responded.

"Okay, I understand. I'll be right back." IF walked towards and into Desmond's room. She then moved over to the bed, a damp rag on his forehead. "You idiot…" she sat on the bed "Running off like that and then making us do all the work… and making us worry about you over it to boot." She placed a hand on his shoulder "Get better soon… hopefully before we get back." IF then stood back up and left to catch up with the others.

* * *

After a few hours of working quests and other small jobs, they had gained a few Shares. "We got some Shares back. I just hope it's enough…" Nepgear commented.

"Hard to say, but we should go and make it into Sharicite before we lose them again, nyu." Broccoli recommended.

"Speaking of losing them again, we have no idea what caused this yet, do we?" 5pb. questioned.

"Behind something bad like this could only be… someone bad!" Red added.

Compa noticed something in the distance "Hmm? Mister Mouse? What's he doing out here?"

"I knew I smelled a rat. I just didn't think we'd find one in the literal sense." IF stated.

The party tailed the rat into an alley, where he was handing out illegal items to civilians. And then telling them to spread the word.

"Ah-ha. That explains it." IF said.

"Those emulation chips must have been spread far and wide here…" 5pb. added.

"Let's bust 'em before they can take any more Shares away!" Red exclaimed.

"Stop right there! Bad Mister Mouse!" Compa shouted at the rodent.

"Huh? Whoooooa, my sweet Compa!" Warechu said, after getting caught off guard. "Am I dreaming? Has my angelic Compa come to buy a chip from little ol' me…?"

"Absotively, posolutely not! I'm gonna stomp them and break them and stuff!" Compa angrily stated, or at least as angry as Compa could get.

"Y-You'll what!? I can't let that happen! B-But if it makes my sweet Compa happy, then… maybe…chu… N-No, no way! These are a real bitch to manufacture. I can't let that happen, not even for you, chu!" The rat stated before running off.

"Hey! Get back here! C'mon, stop doing this already!" Red shouted.

"We'll chase him down. We definitely cannot allow him to distribute any more of those!" Nepgear said as the party started to chase the rat.

* * *

The party chased the rat to the dungeon Iris Field. Once the rat started to slow down and the party caught up, Compa spoke up. "Please give us those chips, Mister Mouse!"

"I'm so sorry, my dear… I cannot do that, chu." Warechu responded.

"Then I'm going to have to poke you with my syringe and take them by force!" Compa stated.

"I'd rather not raise a hand against my beloved angel, but my work is my life, chu…" the rat said with slight sadness in his tone. "If my angelic Compa won't love me, then… I'll love my work more than anything and anyone else, chu!"

The battle started, Warechu ran forward with his fist raised. Compa stabbed him with her syringe. Warechu fell, defeated.

"I lost my love, and my work, chu…" The rat said as he fell.

"Y'know Compa, if you acted a bit more seductive, you probably could've had the rat change teams." IF commented.

"Huh? You want me to be more sexy? Does that mean I should make lots of kissy faces, or…?" Compa started but was cut off by IF.

"Actually, you're fine just the way you are. Forget I said it. Let's smash these chips, okay?"

"Yay! Dibs on smashing!" Red shouted as she moved toward the chips.

"Crunch, nyu." Broccoli said with a dangerous glint in her eyes as she broke the chips.

"That should prevent any more loss of Shares in Lowee." Nepgear stated.

"Yeah. Let's have the Oracle make some Sharicite next." IF said before the group left for the basilicom.

* * *

After a short trip, the party made it safely back to the basilicom. After going inside the building, they met up with Mina and told her what was the cause of the drop in Shares. "A new Arfoire chip? So that was the cause…"

"Don't sweat it! Me and my wifeys stomped on them till they turned into electronic dust piles!" Red exclaimed.

"We think your Shares are safe for now." Compa commented.

"Yeah, okay, but what about Rom? What's gonna happen to her?" Ram cut in asking her question.

"Calm down, Ram. Albeit small, I can make a piece of Sharicite to treat her with these Shares." Mina stated.

"So… she's gonna get better?" Ram questioned.

"Yes. I'm sure she'll be fine." Nepgear answered.

"Oh… Man, what a relief…" Ram said.

"H-How is Desmond doing?" 5pb. asked.

"He is doing better. He's awake, but not at one hundred percent." Mina responded.

"Where is he?" IF questioned.

"He was in our room checking on Rom." Ram answered.

"Thanks. I'll be back in a minute." IF stated, before walking to the twins' room. After she opened the door, she saw Desmond sitting in a chair at the side of the bed. His head down, hands in his face. "Hey… you're awake this time round. How are you holding up?"

He didn't look up, just moved his hands from his face, folded them together and placed them under his chin. "Not at my best… I come all this way here to save these two, and the first thing I do is freaking collapse on the ground. Sure, I might not have made my way over her in the smartest of most efficient of ways, but it doesn't matter. I still let them down… These two… they're… they're like sisters to me. If I lost them…" He buried his face back into his hands. "I just don't want to think about that…"

IF walked up and hugged him from behind "Don't get all depressed on me. It's too weird. All the time I've known you, you've tried your best to save and help everyone and to do it with a smile on your face. Kinda like Nep, always finding some silver lining to make a joke out of a situation. Everything is going to be fine, okay. The others and I went out, grabbed some Shares and destroyed the source of the Share loss. Mina is making the Sharicite now, everything is fine."

He lifted his head up a bit "Thanks, all of you girls. Thank you so much." He broke a small smile and put a hand on IF's arm. "I really like the hug and all, but on the way over some of those monsters got me from the back, it's not that smart trying to take on dungeon after dungeon in an unfocused rage. Point is that my back is not fully healed, and the pressure stings a bit."

She moved off him "Sorry, didn't know." She then started to get curious and lifted the back of his shirt to look at his back. At least a dozen of cuts riddled his back, ranging from deep gashes to small cuts. "Desmond, what the hell!? Why didn't you say something about this? I should get Compa in here." She put down his shirt and was about to move toward the door before getting grabbed.

"Don't, I'll be fine. The girls are probably keeping Ram occupied, she needs any distraction she can get until the Sharicite is done and both are better. Also, I don't want my lungs crushed by Compa trying to wrap me up." He chuckled a little at the end of his remark.

"Are you sure it looks serious?" she asked him, glaring at him with a questioning look.

"Like I said, I'll be fine. I'm stubborn, so usually I push through the pain. Just give it time and it'll heal." The young man stood up and hugged the girl. If he were to look down he'd see a reddened face. "Thanks for coming in here and cheering me up. You really are a great friend." He kissed the top of her head, which caused IF to freeze "We should head out there and see what's going on. Maybe Mina is done by now." He let go of the girl and started toward the door. After opening it he turned around, seeing IF at the same spot she was at. "You comin'?"

IF's mind sprung back to life "H-Huh? W-Wha… O-Oh, yeah. Sorry, just thinking about something." She then made her way out of the room and followed Desmond back to where everyone else was at. If they stayed in the room a little longer they might have seen an underling at the window.

"Hey everyone." The young man said to the group of people.

The group turned around to look at the owner of the voice. "Desmond!" Ram shouted as she ran to him as fast as she could and hugged him. "Mina is working on the Sharicite to help Rom."

"I heard, I just wish it could be done faster. But I'm just glad it's getting done." He responded while patting her head.

"Hi Dez, I heard that you weren't feeling well. Do you want me to give you a checkup?" Compa asked.

"N-No, no. I'm fine, just needed a little rest." Desmond said while sweat dropping a little.

"How ya doin' partner?" Red questioned, raising up an arm.

"I'm doing better." He said as he gave her a high five.

Nepgear walked up to him "I'm glad you're doing better Desmond."

"Me too. I'm also happy to see you girls doing some nice work while I was out." He commented with a smile.

"H-Hey Desmond. N-Nice to see you." 5pb. said with a smile. "Is she one of the twins, that you're always talking about?"

"Yeah, they're like my sisters. So, that was the reason I stormed over here. Please don't think I was mad at you back at Planeptune." He said.

"I know you weren't, so don't worry." She responded.

"C'mon, hurry it up, Mina! You're slow like a grandma!" Ram shouted.

"Now, now. This process cannot be rushed… It's nearly ready… Aaaaand, there we go. Done." Mina stated.

"Yay! Finally!" Ram yelled.

"Whew. While it's small, I feel it should have enough power to help her recover." Mina commented.

"Let's hurry to Rom's side, and…" Nepgear started, before a loud crash was heard.

"What was that? It sounded like something happened in me and Rom's bedroom…" Ram said.

Desmond's eyes widened "No…" he whispered, before running toward the room.

"Hey wait for us!" IF shouted at him.

When everyone arrived at the room, they could see broken pieces in the roof. Ram shouted as they arrived "Rom! Are you okay?"

"Here comes the broad brigade, right on cue. Frickin' chore…" Underling stated.

"What are you doing here? Get away from Rom, now!" Nepgear commanded.

"Yeah, okay. Feel free to convince her to leave my side, chumps." Underling said as Rom hugged the underling.

"Rom, what're you doing!? Don't hug our enemy, dummy!" Ram shouted.

"Enemy, huh? Let's test her out… Hey, brat. Everyone wants to see you beat the crap out of your enemy." Underling said.

"'kay…" was all that Rom said before hitting Ram.

"Ow! Stoppit Rom, don't hit me!" Ram exclaimed.

"Hahaha! Looks like the twerp sees you as her enemy now!" Underling shouted.

"What'd you do this time?" IF questioned.

"Brainwashing, duh. The brat was so weak without any Shares, it took hold right away." Underling replied.

"Brainwashing!? Corrupting the mind of a CPU is a capital offense!" Mina stated.

"Hell if I care! Time for me to go and get the rest of your stupid nation's Shares. C'mon, brat!" Underling shouted as Rom complied.

"Wait! Rom! Rooooom!" Ram screamed.

Desmond started to power up an attack, but after only a couple of seconds of charging. He fell to a knee, grabbing his side. "Dammit!" he cliched his teeth and punched the ground. "If I wasn't acting so stupid before, I would have had enough freaking power to fry the damn underling!" He continued to punch the ground clearly frustrated.

IF grabbed Ram before she could run off "Whoa, don't run after them, kid. Nothing we can do by chasing them without a plan."

"Shut up! I gotta get Rom back! Lemme go!" Ram yelled.

"What should we do? How can we get her back?" Nepgear questioned.

"I'm not sure. No records exist of a CPU being breainwashed…" Mina answered.

"Maybe good ol' Prince Red needs to give her young princess a kiss, like in all those stories?" Red stated.

"Red, I know you're you and all. But try to be serious, I'm not entertaining that thought." Desmond stated, standing back up.

"No! If you try to do something icky like that, I'll kick you!" Ram shouted.

"It's hard to express with words, but what if we tried to awaken her from the soul, outward…?" 5pb. stated.

"Underling said it was easy to do because of the lack of Shares, nyu." Broccoli added.

"So, get more Shares to her. Yeah, that seems like it'd work." Desmond said.

"Shares, huh? Do you think the Sharicite would work?" Nepgear asked.

"It should." Desmond stated.

"I wouldn't trust anything that idiot told us." IF commented.

"It's just a hypothesis, nyu." Broccoli said.

"We've no other options right now. It may be worth a shot." Mina stated.

"Okay, then we're done talking! C'mon, let's hurry up and find her!" Ram shouted.

"Chill out, jeez. It's too late to give chase, and they'll make their move soon. Let's gather info, okay?" IF said.

Desmond let out a slight growl, he spoke with his eyes closed "I'm with Ram on this one. I'd rather just go and get Rom back. But…" He opened his eyes, as he sighed "I know you're right on this one. Let's go find out what's going on." He walked up to Compa "Do you have some healing medicine, like Nep bull, or something?"

"Yessy, it's in my bag." She responded as she pulled a bottle out of the bag and handed it to the boy.

"Thanks, this will help a lot." He said before opening the container.

* * *

After some searching Mina found something related to the situation. "I have information! Or, not really. But I did receive a request for aid to stop a rampaging CPU in town."

"They didn't wait at all, huh? Everyone ready?" IF asked.

"Yes, absolutely." Nepgear said.

"Those dummies won't get away with what they did to Rom! Never, ever!" Ram yelled.

The party then left the basilicom to find Rom and Underling.

They made their way to the central part of the city. After arriving they could see Underling and Rom. Rom was destroying the area while Underling just stood back and laughed. Once the party were close enough Nepgear spoke "There you are!"

"Ugh, it's the peanut gallery. Just when I was enjoying myself… Read the atmosphere, you idiots!" Underling shouted.

"How could you say that you enjoy seeing this destruction?" 5pb. asked.

"Gimme back Rom, or else!" Ram commanded.

"Or else, what? You'll fight me? Okay, do your worst, shortstack." Underling mocked. "Just know that this kid is gonna act as my shield as soon as you try anything!"

"You're cheating! Fight us like the underling you are, Underling!" Red yelled.

"Don't try to piss her off. You ready, Gear?" IF told Red.

"Yes. Taaaaake Thiiiis!" Nepgear shouted as she initiated the Sharicite, causing a small light to emit from the crystal.

"Oh shit, that's bright! Not. It was just a sparkle. Is that really all you got?" Underling mocked.

"Please come back, Rom!" Nepgear pleaded.

"Rom!" Desmond shouted with authority, trying his best to stay calm. He wasn't sure in his current state if he could be quick enough to get around Rom and just hit Underling.

"Tch! That was a bluff? You think you can reverse the brainwashing with a little pleading?" Underling questioned.

Rom grabbed her head as she groaned in pain.

"Huh? Why're you screaming? Oh, come on. Don't tell me this is the "trying to comeback" cliché!" Underling said in an annoyed tone.

"It's working, but it needs one more push, nyu." Broccoli commented.

Ram moved a little bit closer before talking again "It's me, Rom! Your super awesome twin sister, Ram! Say my name!"

"R-Ram…" Rom said quietly.

Underling looked shocked "C-Crap. If she snaps out of it, the boss is gonna have my head… H-Hey, we're leaving, brat! Hurry it up"

Rom fell back into the influence of the brainwashing "Urrgh… 'Kay…" The two then ran off.

"Noooo! Wait, Rom!" Ram yelled.

"It's on the verge of wearing off. We can't back down now!" IF stated.

The party ended up chasing Underling and Rom into the Atari Marsh dungeon. The party finally caught up by the time they were in the dungeon depths. When they got close they could hear Underling talking to herself "I totally forgot about it thanks to all that commotion. Now, where'd I stick it…?"

"How bout I stick it up your asshole, you asshole!" Desmond yelled, rather pissed off at this point.

"Don't move a muscle!" IF shouted.

"Jeez, already!?" Underling whined.

"Rom! Get a grip!" Ram tried to break the brainwashing.

"We're here to take you home." Nepgear added.

"Ram… Miss Nepgear…" Rom said as she tried to break free.

"Yeah, that's what you think! Brainwashing reinforcement, go! Check this thing out, twerp." Underling said as she pulled out an object and activated it. The object caused Rom to yell while holding her head.

"What's going on? She looks like she's in pain!" Compa stated.

"No… It's that light…!" 5pb. mentioned.

"Listen. Those broads are your enemies. Okay? En-e-mies. We kill our enemies. Got it?" Underling commanded.

"Stop doing weird things to my sister!" Ram shouted as she ran between Underling and Rom.

"Ram get back here!" Desmond shouted but it was too late. Ram ended up getting brainwashed as well.

"The hell!? Don't get between us, brat!" Underling yelled.

"Ram! Rom!" Nepgear yelled in concern.

"Well, it ran out of energy… The hell happened? Don't tell me I used it for nothing…" Underling said as she looked at the object. Before noticing that the twins were under her control. "Huh? Wait a sec… Maybe… Hey, brats. Call me "Boss Lady."" The twins complied.

"Uh-oh! Did it affect them both!?" Red questioned.

"It appears so." Desmond said rather annoyed.

"That really sucks, nyu." Broccoli commented.

"Hahahaha! This is comedy gold! The idiot practically brainwashed herself! I couldn't have asked for a better result. Go and kill those broads!" Underling stated.

"Yes, Boss Lady." The twins said simultaneously.

"Wh-What do we do now?" Compa asked.

"Forcing them into submission is our only choice now. Scrubbing their brains clean comes later!" IF answered.

"R-Right. It might hurt a little, but we promise this will help you in the end, Rom and Ram!" Nepgear stated.

"Sorry, Rom… Ram…" Desmond said quietly, before the battle started.

Rom and Ram fired ice shards toward the group, most of them dodged the ice, Desmond, Nepgear, and IF blocked the ice with their blades. IF ran and kicked Ram toward Rom, then quickly jumped back. Red used her yo-yo and grabbed the twins, holding them in place. Nepgear turned down the power on her beam saber and attacked the two, small whimpers could be heard from the twins. Desmond then held his hand forward and used low electric strikes, trying to bring down their guard.

"Sharicite! Now!" IF yelled.

"Got it. Come back to your senses!" Nepgear pleaded.

"Waaaah! Ooooof… Urrahh… Miss Nepgear…?" Rom said quietly.

"Do you recognize us, Rom?" Nepgear asked.

"Rom… Ram… are you okay? I'm sorry we had to do that…" Desmond spoke softly.

"Owwy… I get that you had to stop us, but did you have to be such a bully about it…?" Ram questioned.

"What a relief. They both seem back to normal." 5pb. commented.

"Okay, this sucks all of a sudden. Stay and get clawed to shreds, run and get chewed to pieces…" Underling said to herself.

"Who are you talking to? Get ready to feel our wrath!" Red shouted.

"You've made enough of a scene!" A voice rung out. A rather large robotic creature jumped in, just behind the twins.

"Whoa, here he comes! You broads are gonna answer to Sir CFW Trick now!" Underling exclaimed.

"Great, another weirdo. Or, wait… Isn't that…?" IF stated.

"Yes, he was among the enemies we originally faced in the Gamindustri Graveyard…" Nepgear answered.

"U-Um, so hey, boss… What happened here was like, you know, not my fault, so…" Underling started.

"I'll lap up your excuses later. There are more pressing matters for me to deal with first." Trick stated.

"Y-Yeah, totally. You're gonna clobber these dumb broads, right?" Underling asked.

"Haggard fiends! How dare you raise your wrinkly hands against these poor, defenseless cutie pies!?" Trick yelled.

"Cuite pies…?" Compa questioned.

Desmond went from anger to confusion, then to a sick feeling in his stomach 'Don't tell me…' he thought.

"It's your fault for using that brain cleaner thing!" Red exclaimed.

"Oooh…" Ram groaned.

"Ram… It hurts…" Rom said quietly.

"Ahh, my poor little puppies… Let me lick your wounds…" Trick said as he threw out his tounge, grabbing the twins. Also grossing everyone out.

"Huh!? Eww, gross me out!" Ram shouted.

"Yucky…! Don't…!" Rom exclaimed.

"What the hell are you doing, you psycho!?" IF yelled.

"What the freaking hell do you think you're doing with them! Let them go!" Desmond commanded.

Even Underling was grossed out "Yeah, boss! That's really frickin' weird!"

"But this is how you clean and heal wounds, is it not?" Trick questioned.

"S-Stoppit! Ugh, I'm gonna ralph…" Ram said.

"Ew… It feels so gross…" Rom stated.

'I can't throw an attack without the possibility of hitting Rom and Ram. Dammit! That bastard is basically holding them hostage!' Desmond thought as he clenched his teeth.

"Get that ridiculously large tongue away from them, nyu!" Broccoli shouted.

"Oh, another compact little cutie? Alas, I'm not enough of a man to care for three of you at once…" Trick stated.

"I don't get what you're doing, but can you hurry up and beat the snot outta our enemies!?" Underling asked.

"Yes, yes. I know I should, but… As a refined gentleman, I cannot watch these cuties writhe in pain." Trick answered, shortly after he placed them down.

"I…I'm fine! I'm totally cool! I mean, pain is the least of my worries right now…" Ram said.

"Slobber everywhere… My clothes are ruined… I think I'm mad…" Rom said quietly.

"Boss, look! You actually DID recover their health!" Underling exclaimed.

"Yes, well, it's unfair to fight at a clear advantage. But even at full strength, they are no match for me!" Trick stated.

"If you didn't introduce yourself as such a weirdo, that line would have made you seem chivalrous…" 5pb. commented.

"Yeah. Acting like a massive perv cancels out any coolness, nyu." Broccoli added.

"Disgusting trash. I think it's about time we send you back to the graveyard." Desmond stated.

"P-Please stay on your guard. He is certainly unique and rather deluded, but he looks quite strong!" Nepgear said.

"Playtime is over… Now I shall show my prowess to my cutie pies, you old hags, and the boy!" Trick exclaimed.

The battle started, Compa fired shots at Trick, Red threw her yo-yos at him. IF, Desmond, Nepgear ran toward the creature. Trick threw his tongue at the three, almost hitting them several times. Once they were in arms reach they all attacked at once, from the sides and front. After a few hits they jumped back when Trick spun around trying to hit them. After he stopped spinning, he shot his tongue at Nepgear. Catching her off guard, Desmond jumped in just in time to block it.

"Thanks Desmond." Nepgear stated.

"No problem, let's end it." He responded.

IF held her hand out and caused fire to erupt from underneath Trick. After that Desmond fired a few fire shots at the CFW, as the fire was reaching Trick Desmond brought a lightning attack down from the sky, striking Trick in the chest causing him to scream in pain.

"Wh-What!?" Trick was bewildered.

"No way! Boss, what gives?" Underling questioned.

"I'm gonna rip that tongue right outta your face, you pervert!" Ram shouted.

"No mercy…" Rom said in anger.

"I'll help you two, a creature like that doesn't deserve to live." Desmond said as he walked up behind the twins, cracking his knuckles.

"Ahh, as I feared, I cannot do my worst against such cuties. But… this was fun. Till next time!" Trick stated, before running off.

"Hey! Wait for me, boss!" Underling shouted as she followed Trick.

"No running! Ugh!" Ram yelled.

"They're gone... That was a difficult opponent…" 5pb. commented.

"Yeah, he was difficult to deal with in more ways than one." IF added.

"He wasn't that difficult. He was a little annoying with that tongue though." Desmond stated.

"I just want to know if you two are okay, Rom and Ram." Nepgear asked.

"Uh-huh… I can walk…" Rom answered.

"Goodie! The Sharicite worked." Compa exclaimed.

"Sorry… I caused a lot of trouble…" Rom said quietly.

"You didn't do it. It's all that pervert's fault!" Ram shouted.

"Yeah, don't worry about a thing." Red stated.

"All that we care about is that you two are safe okay." Desmond said with a smile.

"With that over, let's get back to the basilicom. I bet the Oracle is beside herself with worry." IF stated.

After that the party made their way back to the main city.

* * *

The party made it to the Lowee basilicom, when they walked in they we greeted by Mina "You're safe! Oh, thank heavens!"

"Sorry…" Rom said.

"All's well that ends well. We're all done here." IF stated.

"Words cannot express my gratitude." Mina said.

"Don't worry about it. You know I'd probably would've done it by myself if I had to. The girls just made it a bit easier." Desmond commented.

"There's no need. But about the deal we made…" Nepgear started. "Will you let Rom and Ram come with us?"

"About that… I'm hesitant. They are still quite young. And they've proven to be nothing but a handful for you all…"

"Meh! Not our fault! The bad guys were taking all our Shares!" Ram exclaimed. "Besides, it's me and Rom's choice."

"Uh-huh…" Rom agreed.

"Uggggh… As much as I don't want them to leave the basilicom. They are CPUs as well, and they should make the choice for themselves if they want to go save their sister with us." Desmond said with a hand to the back of his head.

"Yeah! We wanna make sure to beat up that gross perv with our own two hands! He brainwashed Rom, and licked us like a doggy! We aren't gonna forgive that, ever!" Ram shouted.

"L-Licked you…?" Mina questioned with a worried tone.

"Please don't ask." 5pb responded.

"Seriously, I don't want to accidently break something while thinking about it." Desmond added while closing his eyes.

"Miss Nepgear helped us again… I wanna help her this time…" Rom stated.

"Aww, Rom…" Nepgear said with a happy tone.

"Uh, maybe I could help her a little. But just a teeny-tiny bit, though." Ram commented.

"I see. Then you both have made up your minds about this." Mina stated.

"Yeah!" Ram responded.

"Uh-huh…" Rom agreed.

"Then I can do nothing to stop you. Please take care of them as if they were your own, Nepgear. Desmond, I know you already do." Mina stated.

"O-Okay, I will. They'll be a huge help, I know it." Nepgear responded.

"Be careful how you phrase that Mina, I treat them like I'm they're brother, not dad. Don't want any confusion." Desmond commented.

"We can do more than help, duh! Leave the magic stuff to us, right, Rom?" Ram said.

"I'll… do my best…" Rom added.

Desmond clapped his hands together "I'm glad everyone is getting along now, but I need to get some rest and let myself get back to full health. So, we can leave in the morning. Until then, I'm gonna pass out okay… okay, good." He gave the twins a quick hug before walking off toward his room.

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter of the story. Leave a review and let me know what you think. As always have a good day.  
**


	14. Chapter 14

**Welcome back to another chapter of HDN: A New World. I was going to get this out earlier today, but I woke up late, stuff got in the way, and then I started to play a bit of Rebirth 3. So it's out later then I fist planned, but at least it's out.**

 **blue555Nexus: Sorry if it takes a while, life sometimes does get in the way. I think we all know that. Anyway he's another ch. for you, and everyone else.**

 **RedBurningDragon: That godspeed ability is rather cool, I'll have to give some thought to it. As to the first part of your last review, you should like this ch. I might add in IF's flame awakening, I might have a good time in thought to put it in.**

 **On to the Chapter.**

* * *

The next morning, the light from the sun was just coming through the windows. Desmond laid on the bed asleep, until two small ones jumped onto the bed shouting. "Wake up, Desmond! We got to go save our sisters!" Ram shouted.

"Yeah, wake up…!" Rom agreed, still quiet compared to Ram.

"Uuugggghhh…" Desmond groaned as he tried to ignore the twins. The two continued to shake him as they tried to wake him. It wasn't until he felt a couple of cold hands starting to freeze his face, did he finally wake. "Aaagggh! What the crap you two! Don't go around freezing people!" He sat up, using his fire powers to heat himself back up.

The twins just sat next to him smiling and laughing. Another walked up to the bed "Sorry, I tried to stop them from doing that but they wouldn't listen." He saw it was Nepgear looking a bit sheepish at her inability to stop the twins.

"It's okay, Gear. It's not the first time I've had a rude awaking." He responded partially glaring at the twins. "I guess I'll make some breakfast." He said rubbing the back of his head, still trying to fully wake up.

"Don't worry, Mina already did." Nepgear stated.

"Oh, good. Then I can go back to sleep." Desmond said as he started to lay back down much to the protest of the twins.

"No! You can't go back to sleep, we got to get moving! The faster we leave the faster we can save our sisters so let's mooovve!" Ram exclaimed as she pushed him upward from the back, with Rom.

"Stay up big brother…" Rom added. "We got to move…"

"They're really excited to come with us. They've been talking about it for most of the morning." Nepgear said.

"Okay, fine... I'll get up." He started to stand up "If you all will kindly leave the room, I'll start getting ready." The three complied and left the room.

After getting ready to leave, he ate and gathered with the others at the entrance of the basilicom. "You all take care now. Be good Rom, Ram. Thank you for all of your help everyone." Mina said giving the group a small bow.

"It's alright, there's no need to thank us. Having Rom and Ram coming with us is more than enough." Nepgear responded.

"We'll see you later Mina, you take care of yourself as well. If you need any help while were gone, just call." Desmond stated with a smile. The party then left the basilicom.

* * *

After reaching the edges of the capital Nepgear received a call on her N-Gear. She put it on speaker again before answering "Histoire's calling. Hello, Nepgear speaking. Oh, listen to this, Histoire! Rom and Ram have decided to come with us and help out."

"How fortuitous. I can scarcely imagine what it took for those kids to accept your proposal." The voice coming through was not from Histoire but from Kei instead.

"Wait… But my caller ID said… Is this… Kei?" Nepgear questioned.

"Yeah, that is without a doubt Kei. Sup'" Desmond stated.

"Correct. It brings a professional smile to my face to know that you remember my voice. And hello to you as well Desmond." Kei responded.

"But, wait… Why are you calling from Histoire's phone…? I'm really confused right now." Nepgear stated.

"It's not that hard to deduce, Gear. She's using Histoire's phone." Desmond commented.

"That's right. I had a few meetings to attend, so I've been staying in the basilicom here in Planeptune." Kei said. "Enough about me. There is an urgent matter regarding Uni that I must relay to you."

"Did something happen to her?" Nepgear asked.

"In a sense. She's gone missing." Kei answered. "I asked her to oversee the nation during my absence, but it appears she got involved in some incident."

"That sounds serious… Do you know if Uni's okay?" Nepgear asked.

"Unfortunately, no. I can assume with confidence that she is unharmed, though. I cannot abandon my duties here, so I wanted to call and ask for your help in locating Uni."

"Okay. We'll head straight to Lastation." Nepgear stated before turning off her N-Gear and turning to the others. "That's the situation, everyone. We've got to find Uni!"

"I guess that's fine, but I'm pretty sure I warned you to stop agreeing to things before asking everyone." IF commented.

"Huh? Oh… Goodness, you did, huh? I got caught up in the flow of things again, hehe…" Nepgear responded.

"No, it's fine. When a friend is in trouble, you don't need to know details. You just need to jump in and help them." Desmond rebutted.

"Ge-Ge is starting to act more and more like Nep-Nep, huh?" Compa stated.

"Um… Let's go and find Uni! No time to waste!" Nepgear said trying to draw the attention off herself.

"Let's goooo!" Desmond shouted with a hand forward as he ran forward.

* * *

The party finally made it to Lastation. Shortly after arriving, a guard approached them. "Hey, I know you all! Welcome back to Lastation."

"Um… who are you, again?" Nepgear asked.

"Aww, forgot me already? I gave you the info when you were looking for Hematite." The guard answered.

"Oh, you're that old guy!" Red shouted, while pointing at the man.

"I-I'm really quite young in non-anime years… Anyway… I take it you're here about Lady Uni." The guard responded.

"Do you know where she is?" Nepgear questioned.

"Yes. The Oracle asked me to find information and I believe I've come across a solid lead." The man stated.

"Wait, how are you and the Oracle on speaking terms?" IF questioned.

"Uh…! Well, um, we have far more pressing matters at hand, so let's focus on those, shall we?" The guard stuttered.

"He probably knows her because of the fact he's a guard of this nation, IF. And we do have more important things to do right now. Where is Uni!?" Desmond said in a firm tone.

"She was trying to confiscate all the Arfoire chips that were spread throughout Lastation. Then, a few days ago, we got reports of an inhuman shadow arguing with Lady Uni. It was overheard that the two planned to settle their debate at a place called Mid Company. Lady Uni has been missing ever since." The guard answered.

"Then, that could mean…" Compa started.

"She lost the fight?" 5pb. finished.

"We have to go save her! She might be seriously hurt!" Nepgear exclaimed.

"That's why I've been waiting here! I could never survive in that hostile area alone…" The guard stated.

"Why are you guards so weak? You are supposed to protect the nation, how come a buncha girls can do your jobs better than you guards? Hell, I could do most of your crap by myself." Desmond questioned.

"We understand. We're going, nyu." Broccoli stated, ignoring what Desmond said.

"Please be safe Uni…" Nepgear said quietly. The party left the main city.

* * *

The party entered the dungeon and moved through it, about midway through the place Red started shouting "Someone's collapsed on the ground!"

"Is that Uni?" Nepgear questioned.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ram asked.

"Did she really lose…?" Rom added.

"She's unconscious, but her vital signs are stable. It's time for Nurse Compa's healing magic!" Compa exclaimed while moving toward Uni.

After Compa worked on the girl, Uni finally woke up, with a groan.

"Can you hear me, Uni? Where does it hurt?" Nepgear asked.

"Nepgear…? What're you doing here…? Ow, ow, ow…" Uni responded as she tried to get up.

"Please lie down. We have to take it one small step at a time…" Compa stated.

"N-No need, I'm just fine… This is… nothing… Owww…" Uni said, still trying to stand.

"Quit acting tough. Who were you fighting? It's hard to imagine someone taking you down…" IF stated.

"T-Take me down? This is part of my feint strategy! Seriously, I was only acting weak, that's all!" Uni tried to defend herself.

"Cut the crap Uni, who were you fighting!? We need to know!" Desmond yelled.

"Someone called CFW Brave. For being a member of ASIC, he was actually pretty chivalrous." Uni responded.

"Another ASIC bastard." Desmond growled "How is he "chivalrous" when he left you in such a state."

"CFW Brave? Why does that sound familiar?" Red questioned.

"That "CFW" bit is the same as the dumb perv from Lowee." Ram stated.

"Right, I think it was CFW Trick. I wonder why they use the same acronyms…" 5pb. added.

"Did you beat that Trick person?" Uni asked.

"Yes. Everyone else helped me, too." Nepgear answered.

"I see…" Uni said quietly.

"Though, he did run away. I guess I'll just have to kill him some other time." Desmond stated.

"It's a no-no to talk this much while you're recovering. You should get lots of sleep." Compa commented.

"Let's go back to the city, where the beds are cozy, nyu." Broccoli suggested. Uni reluctantly went with them back to Lastation.

* * *

A few hours later most of the party left to get groceries for dinner, while Compa and Red stayed at the basilicom. "Uni seems really depressed…" Nepgear stated while poking her fingers together.

"She's got a lot of pride. The idea of losing must not sit well with her at all." IF commented.

"From what I know of her, it would not. She's just like her sister in that regard." Desmond added.

"I can relate… I felt the same way when I lost back then…" Nepgear said.

"What a stupid baby, crying just because she lost a something." Ram exclaimed.

"But… I'd be sad, too…" Rom added.

"It's okay for you, Rom. Besides as long as we're together, you're not ever gonna lose." Ram said loudly.

"It'd be great if that childish optimism would rub off on some other people here." IF commented

"Hey! Amber alert, you guys!" Red yelled.

"Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh…!" Compa shouted looking really worried.

"What's going on, nyu?" Broccoli asked.

"Uni… She's gone! She took all my cute bandages off and vanished!" Compa answered.

"Why would she do that?" Nepgear questioned.

"Man, what a handful. Let's go find her. She couldn't have gone far with her wounds." IF stated.

The party spread apart too search for Uni, Desmond and Nepgear went together, IF, Compa, Rom, and Ram went as a team, and Broccoli, 5pb, and Red went as the last team. Desmond and Nepgear went to a dungeon called the Endless Zone. After battling a bit of the way through the place they found Uni. Nepgear was the first to call out "There's Uni!"

"Nepgear…" Uni said, head mostly aimed toward the ground.

"We're all worried about you. Please come back with us." Nepgear stated.

"Seriously, let's get you back. You're not in any condition to be out here." Desmond commented.

"I didn't ask you to worry about me. Just leave me alone." Uni whined.

"Don't be like that. How couldn't we be worried?" Nepgear questioned.

"It doesn't even matter if I'm here or not. Nobody would bat an eye if I vanished for good." Uni said looking down with a pained face.

"What the goodness! That's not true! I…I want you to help us, so…" Nepgear started.

"Why? You don't need me." Uni barked back.

"Uni… What's gotten into you?" Nepgear asked.

"I lost. I wanted to beat the enemy that took down my big sister… But I lost before I could even make it that far. All my effort has been for nothing…" Uni answered.

"That's because you're trying to fight all by yourself. If we all work together, then maybe…" Nepgear started.

"Yeah, you're right. I am all by myself, aren't I? Unlike you, surrounded by so many friends… Without my sister, I've been all alone out here…" Uni commented.

"Uni…" Nepgear said with a sad tone.

"I was an idiot to think I could fill my sister's shoes. Isn't it kind of funny, and sad? I was trying my best at something that's simply out of my league…" Uni started back up.

"Okay! That's it! I'm starting to get pissed off with all of your self-loathing!" Desmond said as he walked up to the girl "If you think that for a second that no one would care if you disappeared, then you must be blind! There are many people that would miss you! Nepgear, Rom, Ram, IF, Compa, Red, Kei… everyone you know, me included! Nepgear alone would probably morn for weeks all by herself, she cares a lot for you. I would feel like I would've failed you and your sister for letting you die…! And then there's your sister, Noire, how bad do you think she would feel if your gone while she was trapped. It would torture her to the end of time! So, don't tell me no one cares for you." When he spoke, he grabbed her shoulders and lifted her head up so he could look into her eyes. Giving a knowing glare as if to prove his words.

"Desmond…" Uni said quietly.

"Don't berate yourself Uni!" Nepgear spoke up, which caught Uni off guard. "I'm the same way. I know that I can't fill my sister's shoes. But I'm trying to do all I can. No, I have to do all I can, and accomplish what she couldn't! I have to save my sister!" she shouted. Desmond couldn't help but smile at the girl's resolve.

"Save your sister, huh…?" Uni said.

"But I can't do it alone. That's why I'm asking for everyone to help me out. IF, Compa, Desmond, Rom, Ram, you, and all my other friends… If we work together, we can pull it off. I know we can! We have to believe in ourselves!" Nepgear stated.

"You called me… your friend…" Uni said with a mix of emotions on her face.

"Of course I did. We're both CPU Candidates, so it's only natural that we become friends." Nepgear responded.

"I see you as a friend as well Uni." Desmond said giving the girl a warm smile.

"Nepgear… Desmond…" Uni started.

"And yet, that wish shall never come to fruition." A voice rung out.

"Huh? Who's there?" Nepgear asked.

"It's you… CFW Brave!" Uni said.

"The one that defeated you…" Nepgear commented.

"So, he's the one that hurt you…" Desmond said with a snarl.

"Fortune smiles upon me, finding two CPU Candidates in one fell swoop here. Also if my sources are correct, you must be the young man that branded many of our members throughout the past three years. I take no joy in senseless killing. Cease your actions against ASIC and you may all leave here alive." Brave said.

"We will not! We're going to fight ASIC and rescue our sisters!" Nepgear proclaimed.

"I believe that the outcome of our duel had already been decided. You know well my strength." Brave commented.

"W-Well…" Uni stuttered.

"Don't let him get to you, Uni! We're here with you. If we fight together, we can defeat him!" Nepgear stated.

"That's right! We can tear that tin piece of crap into shreds." Desmond added.

"Together…Hmph! You sure do like to make things sound more dramatic than necessary. But… you're right. I… no, we can't lose. We'll never lose to someone like you ever again!" Uni said.

"Yeah, you tell him!" Nepgear yelled.

"I applaud your bravado! However…" Brave started "I will teach you that actions, not words, carry the strength to shape one's desires!"

"Hahahahaha…" Desmond started to laugh manically "Actions are what you want… Then actions are what you'll get. You should've been more careful, because this place will become your grave!" he yelled with a growl and the battle started.

"Uni handle support, Nepgear you come with me!" Desmond commanded, the Candidates nodded and got into their positions. "Ready… Go!" he yelled as the two ran forward, Desmond was in front. After motioning for Nepgear to flank, he slashed at Brave, who blocked the attack with his large sword. As Nepgear jumped for an attack from the side, Brave moved his arm and knocked her away. Desmond growled as he shot a lightning bolt at Brave's arm, after doing so he backed off just in time for Uni to fire a barrage of bullets at the creature, some of the shots were blocked by his sword. Nepgear stood back up and moved over to where Brave was, at reaching the machine she slashed at his legs a few times before backing up just in time to dodge an incoming attack. But she couldn't move from the second attack, Brave dashed forward with a sword attack. Nepgear braced for the impact by attempting a block, only to feel getting pushed aside. When she opened her eyes, she saw Desmond with both of his beam sabers drawn taking the brunt of the hit. He was thrown back from the force of the attack, once he hit the ground he rolled back into a standing position.

"Are you okay!?" Nepgear asked, earning a nod from the young man. Brave closed the distance on the boy, Desmond fired a few shots from his pistol, as Brave deflected the bullets. The slashed at the young man, Desmond jumped on the sword of the CFW before trying to leap over him. It didn't work out as well, Brave was too quick and threw a punch at the man, connecting and sending him flying back "Desmond!" Uni shouted. Desmond started to stand back up, blood flowing down from the side of his face, a smile still on his face. "I'll be fine, this bastard is going to have to do a lot more to take me down! But I think that it's time we end this!" Desmond declared.

Several more shots were fired from Uni causing Brave to take a defensive position. At the end of the bullet rain, Desmond fired a few fire balls causing a smoke cloud to cover Brave. The three took the opportunity to reposition. As the smoke started to dissipate, a large sword finished moving the rest out of the way for Brave to see. Only to be immediately hit with another barrage of bullets, before taking several slashes to the back from Nepgear. After that a large amount of electric activity was swirling around above Brave. "Sky open…!" The electric field started to move rapidly "And Strike!" Several large blue bolts of electricity struck Brave in multiple limbs, dropping the CFW to the ground.

"Fascinating. Such a boon in power with only a couple of allies. Perhaps something caused their hearts to resonate?" Brave stated.

"I knew we could do it! Yay!" Nepgear shouted.

"We won… We really did it…" Uni said still in a bit of shock.

"Of course, we did, that's what happens when you don't try to do everything by yourself." Desmond stated.

"Hahaha! What a delightful match! Very well. To honor your efforts, I will leave here in peace." Brave said. "But when we next meet, do not expect such leniency. Prepare both your strength and will!"

"Wow, he was actually rather respectful. Huh…" Desmond said with a slight head tilt.

"We're so awesome, Uni!" Nepgear exclaimed.

"Y-Yeah, thanks… It's… because of you two, so…" Uni started.

"Aw, stop being a downer already. You were super tough and cool! We won because of you." Nepgear responded.

"That's not what I was… Ugh, forget it." Uni said. "Nepgear… Would you mind if… If I came with you…?"

"Huh? Wow, really? You mean it? Yay! Of course you can come!" Nepgear shouted with glee.

"About time you joined up, little tsun. Welcome to the team." Desmond said with a large smile.

"S-Stop acting so happy about it… Seeing you makes me realize how stupid I was acting before…" Uni stated. "Oh, before I forget… Don't you dare tell anyone about what happened here!"

"Wait, what did happen here?" Nepgear questioned.

"You know all of her self-loathing crap that she was going through. But if you don't want me to talk about it then you can't act like that again. I never want you to feel like you're worthless or no one cares about you got it?" Desmond asked.

"O-Okay. What about you Nepgear?" Uni stated.

"Oh! The self-deprecation and all the whining, right? No worries, your secret's safe with me." Nepgear answered.

"C-Come on! I wasen't THAT pathetic!" Uni whined.

"Oh, sorry, but yes… yes you were." Desmond stated earning a glare from the girl.

"We should hurry back, okay? Everyone's still looking for you." Nepgear stated, before moving toward the dungeons exit.

"Are you sure you understand what I was saying!? Hey, get back here!" Uni shouted and ran after Nepgear.

"Well… this should be fun. Now… it's time we get the CPUs back." The young man turned his gaze from the two girls, upward.

"Hey! Hurry up or we'll leave you behind!" Uni yelled in the distance, causing Desmond to stop daydreaming and move forward to catch back up with the other two.

* * *

The trio arrived back at Lastation, and meet back up with the rest of the group. "She's actually coming along, right?" IF asked.

"It looks like you desperately need my help, so yeah. I mean, who knows when you'd save my sister otherwise." Uni said in a prideful tone.

"I'm surprised you were able to convince such a hard-shelled tsundere." IF mocked.

"You shouldn't try and act all high and mighty there chunni tsun~. At least your tsun side is not as bad." Desmond whispered to IF, which she then shot daggers from her eyes at him. Only causing him to smile more.

"Ge-Ge is like a friend magnet!" Compa commented.

"Hehe, aw, stop flattering me…" Nepgear said a little bit flustered.

"Yeah, but still… I mean…" IF started.

"Anyway! It's fine if you wanna help us, but don't be a jerk, okay?" Ram interrupted.

"Hi… Can we be friends, Uni…?" Rom asked in her quiet tone.

"Look at all these wifey candidates! Man, it's sensory overload!" Red exclaimed.

"It's been a while since they were gathered together at the concert. It's a great sight…" 5pb. commented.

"A winning team, nyu." Broccoli added.

"It's sure gotten crowded." IF stated.

"It was just Iffy, Dez, and me at first, but look at all of Ge-Ge's friends now!" Compa exclaimed.

"Yes. And this time, I'm sure… I promise we'll save our sisters!" Nepgear shouted.

The party left to go back to Planeptune.

* * *

After arriving at the Planeptune basilicom, Histoire greeted them "It appears that everyone has gathered together."

"Yes! Nepgear, Uni, Rom, and Ram are reporting for duty!" Nepgear shouted.

"And for whatever reason, all of us Oracles are here, as well." Chika said.

"Have Rom and Ram been good girls? I hope they aren't causing your hair to turn gray, Nepgear." Mina asked.

"Meh! We're awesome, of course. And we're not gonna be kids forever, so there!" Ram exclaimed.

"We've been… good…" Rom added.

"I thought you CPUs didn't age, soooo… looks like you are gonna be kids for forever. Sorry 'bout that you two." Desmond said with a hand behind his head.

"W-Well you shouldn't have said anything!" Ram whined.

"I'm curious to know why all the Oracles are here, myself." IF stated.

"Quite the cold greeting, despite our intent to propose a selfless offer." Kei remarked.

"Allow me to explain. Kei has been able to develop a device that can amplify the power of Sharicite." Histoire said trying to stop an argument before it started. "That is why she had arrived ahead of the other Oracles, to help us set up the equipment required."

"So this machine-a-ma-bob was made from the stuff we gathered up for you before?" Red asked.

"Yes. We planned for Lastation to act independently, but with how things stand, that option is gone. It would almost seem rude to do now, since our CPU Candidate seems to have made friends with you all." Kei responded.

"We're not friends or anything! I'm…I'm just helping them a little bit because they begged!" Uni retorted.

"Sure… That's what's going on…" Desmond teased, giving her a knowing look. "Mini tsun."

Uni growled and threw a punch at him, the young man easily dodged it. "Shut up!"

"Can't touch this…" Desmond said before humming a tune while moving away from the advancing Uni.

"Heehee! Everyone's so silly. Seeing it makes me one happy Compa!" the aforementioned girl stated.

"I don't feel any sense of urgency at all, nyu." Broccoli said, her eyes partially squinted.

"Yeah, that happens. Probably a bit too often." Desmond stated.

"The Sharicite will be ready come tomorrow morning. Prepare to return to Gamindustri Graveyard." Histoire commented.

"Tomorrow morning, we'll go to the Gamindustri Graveyard…" 5pb. said.

"Yes, that is what she just said. I'm just glad you're not hiding and need someone else to relay the info, Lyrica." Desmond said while placing a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump slightly and added a small blush to her face.

"Th-They didn't need to know that Desmond!" she quietly shouted.

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad. It just shows how comfortable you've become with everyone. I'm happy that you've come more out of your shell." He responded, while giving her a warm smile causing her to blush a bit more.

"O-Okay…" she said while looking down a bit.

"We have done all that we can. Failure is not an option. But of course, I have faith that our CPU recovery mission will be a success." Histoire stated.

"Try not to pile on the pressure too hard, Histoire. Don't want this girl to buckle under the weight." IF said pointing a finger to Nepgear.

"No, I can handle it. I've made it my duty to rescue my sister, after all!" Nepgear responded.

"With me helping them, what else could it be other than a success?" Uni stated, earning a facepalm from Desmond. But he didn't feel the need to speak up at the moment.

"Let's be totally awesome out there, okay, Rom?" Ram exclaimed.

"Okay…!" Rom agreed.

"Hehe. How wonderful to see the CPU Candidates grow and mature like this." Histoire commented. "Have a good night's rest. If you will excuse me, I still have a few matters requiring my attention." Histoire then floated out of the room.

"I guess we should head to our rooms… Gear can you show your fellow Candidates to their rooms? Assuming the Oracles already have one." Desmond asked, earning nods from the three Oracles.

"Yes, follow me!" Nepgear said cheerfully.

The Oracles started to head back to their rooms, Compa was taking 5pb., Broccoli, and Red to their rooms. IF said something before Desmond could walk off. "Can we talk…?"

"Sure, what is it?" he asked.

"C-Can we go to somewhere a little more private than here?" she countered.

"Yeah, no problem… I guess my room is closest to here, and you and Compa share a room when you spend the night here don't ya… So, that's probably out of the questioned." he responded, then moved to his room where they entered. IF looked around a little, a bit nervous looking. Unknown to her a peach haired nurse saw them enter. She closed the door and sat next to the young man on the bed. "Sooo… what's on your mind?"

"W-Well, it's almost time for us to get the CPUs back, I bet your excited." She answered.

"Yeah, no doubt. Three long years without them. No playing games competitively with Vert, no quiet time reading books with Blanc, no teasing and sparing with Noire, and… not being able to hang out and have fun with Neptune day in and out." He said, kind of spacing out. IF could see, during the time that he was with them, albeit short, he really did connect with all of them in some way or another. She could see the pain on his face just recalling the time without them. "At least we got Gear back, she was definitely a big help."

"Y-Yeah… Who do you miss the most?" she questioned.

"Huh… That's an interesting question… But I'll answer." He said and gave it a few moments thought. "I would have to say, Neptune. I miss being around her… She lives to make good things out of bad situations, to brighten up someone's day, to have as much fun as possible even if it can get her in trouble. She doesn't care about what a person looks like, who they are, what their past is, she just cares about them. Even though she can get on people's nerves. She helped pull me out of the darkness of my past, or at least what was left of it when I got here."

She held her hands together in her lap, looking down. For a few moments she didn't say anything, just taking in what he had said a mix of emotions running through her. "You must like her a lot, huh?"

"I don't know… I don't think I could say that right now… I do care for her a lot, but saying as much as like… I'm just not sure. I know that I respect her as a person. But there is a chance that I do." He responded, hands behind him in an almost laid-back position, head looking toward the celling.

A small smile came to IF's face, as she thought 'Okay, so there is still a chance… good. Should I tell him now… I should, but, I need to get to sleep for tomorrow, but what happens if I don't and they get together… but… but… Ugggghhh!' her mind was having a mini melt down, thankfully for her Desmond wasn't looking at her to see her face change emotion every couple of seconds.

"Is there anything else you want to talk about?" the young man asked.

Causing her eyes to pop a bit, bringing her back to reality. "Oh, yeah there is…" 'What was it though… Oh yeah, the other competition.' "How close are you and 5pb.?"

"Interesting questions tonight Iffy~, any ulterior motives perhaps~…" She locked up for a second "Joking aside, I'd probably wouldn't answer that if most people asked. But you would be in the group of not most people, I trust you, not so much for most people that run up to me before, during, or after concerts asking that question. Our relationship is like mine with everyone else, we're friends. We are close enough that she can speak with me comfortably at a higher percentage of the time without running off, Cave would also be on that list. I do tease her quite a bit due to her shy nature, I try to bring her out of it as much as possible. She is a fun person to hang around when she gets comfortable and lets her true self shine, and she has a great singing voice and is super cute to boot. But of course, all of you girls are really cute, including you…It's just that she doesn't think that she is when I say it, she always tries to deflect it in some way, mainly due to her shy nature, I'm sure. I'm just glad she's finally getting used to other people and even joining in to conversations that other people are having, it's a big step for her. Especially in such a short amount of time. Took me nearly a year for her to stay in the same room with me for an hour and her not run out during that time. You all have been great to her, and I thank you all for that." He answered.

IF swore her heart skipped a beat 'He called me cute…' she felt her face heat up 'I know he says that a lot to us girls but it's hard not to take to heart. He always acts so genuine to us… even though he jokes around a lot, he always makes time to make us feel good too.' she thought, thankfully still able to hear the rest of what the man said. 'At least it seems like I'm safe on that front too.'

Desmond looked over at the clock on the nightstand, showing that it was almost midnight "Oh, crap. Why is it so late already…? We need to get to sleep if we're going to be useful tomorrow. I guess this would be good night then."

She looked up at him still with a small blush on her face "Y-Yeah, I guess we should." She stood up and moved over to the door "G-Goodnight, Desmond…" She said with a smile before leaving the room.

Uni was introduced to her guest room but stopped Nepgear with a question before she left. "I-I was wanting to ask Desmond a few questions… do you think it would be better to ask him now or in the morning… I'm just asking you because you've known him a while now and you might know his sleeping habits."

"Do you need to talk about what we're doing tomorrow with him?" Nepgear asked without hesitation.

"Y-Yeah, that's it…" Uni said, in not the most convincing matter.

"If he doesn't fall asleep early, then he usually is up trying to think up strategies for battles. Sometimes he goes late into the night doing those, so just knock on the door and if he's up he'll answer. His room is down the hall to the right, and his door is the third on the right. It's not too far from the living room" Nepgear answered.

"O-Okay thanks." Uni responded.

"Okay, then. Night." Nepgear said as she walked off.

"Night…" Uni responded.

Uni was almost to Desmond's room, but before she turned the corner she heard the door open. She stopped and peeked her head out to see what was happening. She could see IF walking out of his room, closing the door and walking in the opposite direction. After IF turned the corner down a separate hallway, Uni moved forward. She stopped in front of the door, taking a breath and knocked. The door opened "Did you forget something IF… Oh, hey Uni what's up?" The young man asked.

"H-Hey, I was wanting to ask you something…" she responded.

"You too, huh. Okay. It's nothing too weird, though right?" he asked.

"W-What do you mean weird?" she questioned.

"Oh, nothing, don't worry about it." He said while waving his hand. Uni moved inside the room and he closed the door "What do you want to talk about?"

"I'm not sure how to say this exactly… but… Tell me how I can be strong like you!" Uni exclaimed.

"Huh, strong like me… How?" he asked.

"Ever since we meet I could feel this strength and courage from you that I want. It reminds me of Noire, Noire strength and power… You feel like her, in a league of your own. I want that strength to be like Noire!" she answered.

He looked at her and shook his head a little "Uni, Uni, Uni… I feel a little sad at how foolish your thoughts are."

"W-What are you…" she started to say before getting cut off.

"Don't interrupt, I'm not done speaking yet. You say that you want to be like you sister, as strong as she is, as courageous as her. But you don't think about what you could be. You don't think about your own strengths and abilities. You want to limit yourself by trying to be exactly like Noire. That is the reason your thoughts are foolish. You need to be yourself, learn what you need to do to further yourself, find your limits and push past them, shatter them like they were never there. And when a new one arises, decimate it. You can never be good enough in your eyes nor Noire's if you continue to try to be her. You have to be you. Become better than your sister, than anyone else that you know. Because if you are trying to be like someone else than you are limiting yourself. And if you are limiting yourself than you will never achieve what you desire. And when you get knocked down, stand back up, dust yourself off, and fight again. Remember, that it doesn't matter how many times you fail, and fall. The only thing that matters is how many times you get back up, time after time, even if it takes years of trying. Because the second you even think about giving up, you've already lost. That is a secret to my success. I hope it can be the one to yours. Don't forget that you can do something that I couldn't even do…" he stated.

"What…?" She asked.

"You still have the chance to save your sister, your family. Are you going to let, your mind step in your way, because you don't think you are good enough? No, push past your doubts and reasons of thinking and just act. Move on instinct, act with passion, and do everything with determination. So, Uni, tell me. Are you ready to save your sister? Are you ready to go head first into the danger, even with the possibility of death looming around? And are you ready to prove to yourself and Noire that you are no longer living in her shadow but are striving to be even better than her, and that you show no signs of stopping?" she questioned.

"Y-Yes!" she answered, she felt empowered, unstoppable, able to take on all of ASIC by herself.

"Good, but always remember to be wise in your doings. Don't lash out and do something stupid. Not saying it won't happen, I do it all the time. Just try to control yourself a little better than me. If there is a situation that is clearly out of your league than be wise, back out and bring help." He added.

"Okay. Thank you, really. This should help a lot." She stated with a grin.

He pulled her into a hug. "Good, I wouldn't want to see you get hurt before we got Noire back. She'd probably try to kill me." He said with a chuckle "Anyways, I'm glad you brought this forward to me. I wouldn't have wanted you thinking like that, I'm guessing that is part of why you were so depressed back before we fought Brave, huh. Just remember that there are people that will always care for you, so don't feel like you're worthless."

"Y-Yeah, was really feeling down after losing, and then you all came along and I felt even worse after hearing you all beat one of the CFWs." She responded.

He let go of her. "Okay, but, we need to get up early, so off to bed." He said while making a shooing motion with his hands.

Uni moved toward the door "T-Thanks again Desmond… Night."

"Just remember not to sell yourself short, okay. Night." Desmond said as she closed the door and he sat on his bed 'Huh, what a night huh. A lot of talking that's for sure. It was a bit odd how much IF was prying though, it is like her to pry a little, but not usually on subjects like those. All well, she seemed content with our talk by the end of it. I guess it's time I sleep too.' And with that he laid down and fell asleep.

After IF left Desmond's room, she went back to Compa and her room. After opening the door, she gave a greeting "I'm back." As soon as she closed the door and turned around she found a Compa staring at her only a foot away. Which startled her, causing her to jump slightly.

"So…" Compa started.

"So, what?" IF asked.

"Did you tell him?" Compa asked.

This caught IF off guard "W-W-Wh-What do you mean! Tell him what!?"

"Did you tell him, that you like him?" Compa asked still as innocent looking as ever.

IF's face went full tomato, steam could be seen coming out of her ears "W-W-W-W-What… I-I-I…"

"Don't try to deny it Iffy, we've been friends for a long time. I know when you are acting off, and for a while now I've even caught you sneaking glances at him. Don't get embarrassed for liking someone, it's natural for people to fall in love." Compa stated.

"L-L-Love!? I don't think that we should be saying that. If anything, it's just a crush, yeah a crush." IF said still red faced and not looking Compa in the face.

"You must like him a lot though Iffy." Compa said in her innocent tone again, causing a sigh from the brunette. "Did you tell him?"

"No, I went in there and asked him what he thought about, who I would think could be my competition. The CPUs, mainly Nep. And 5pb." IF answered.

"So, what did he say." Compa asked.

"Well, it seems like I'm safe on both ends, but if I wait too long it might be too late after we get Nep back. I feel like he might like her. But he even said he wasn't sure. But when I was in there, and tried to say something about it, I just couldn't… I locked up. I asked all the questions that I wanted, but when it came to the words I needed to say… I couldn't." IF said looking a bit down.

"Don't worry Iffy, you'll do it. I know you will. I'm rooting for you." Compa said with a cute face of determination.

It made IF smile "Thanks Compa, I needed that. Maybe I can do it before we leave tomorrow. Well I'm going to sleep, goodnight Compa."

"Goodnight Iffy." Compa said as she turned off the lamp between the two beds that they laid on, and fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning rolled around, the sun coming up from the horizon. Planeptune's citizens moving about their morning, coming or going to work. Desmond felt the heat from the sun's rays fall upon his face, their brightness waking him. He slowly moved himself into a sitting position. Eyeing the clock seeing that it was a few minutes past seven, he got out of bed and got himself ready for the day, by taking a quick shower and getting dressed. Once he was done he walked out of his room and moved to the kitchen. He started to make breakfast for everyone, pancakes, eggs, bacon, and made some coffee to go with it. As he was finishing up Histoire floated in and greeted the young man "Good morning, Desmond. I see you have already made breakfast, thank you."

"No problem. I set yours out over there." He responded, pointing to a smaller plate with food already on it.

"Hello! Where's the food! Ahh! There it is!" Red shouted as she dived for a plate. Gathering as much as she could without being too greedy.

"Morning." Both IF and Compa said as they entered the room. Compa walked in a big smile on her face as usual. IF on the other hand walked in a little sluggish, turns out she didn't get as much sleep as she wanted.

"Hey, you two, grab something to eat." Desmond said as he moved closer to IF "Looks like couldn't fall asleep, will you be alright to go later?"

"Y-Yeah, I just need to eat something. I'll back to normal in no time." She answered.

"Okay, if you end up felling light headed or just to tired later, just let me know." He said before walking back off.

"Hi, the food looks good." 5pb. stated as she walked in, grabbing a plate.

"Good to see you this morning Lyrica… looking as lovely as always." Desmond teased, as he gave a smile. 5pb. instantly went red and stayed motionless for a moment before Desmond spoke back up "Calm down, you know I was joking."

"T-That doesn't m-matter when you say it with so many people a-around, someone might get the w-wrong i-idea…" she blurted out, still burning red. He just chuckled a bit at her response.

"Good morning everyone." "Mornin'" Nepgear and Uni walked in. Nepgear with a large smile, Uni with her usual neutral face. But with a little bit of a pep in her step, she was excited.

"Morning, sorry to ask, but Gear can you wake up Rom and Ram? I'd like to make sure they eat something before we leave, and I'm not entirely sure what room you put them in." Desmond asked.

"Sure, no problem." She answered and walked off.

A few minutes later Nepgear, Rom, and Ram came in. "Hey everyone!" Ram exclaimed, as she rushed in and grabbed a large stack of pancakes.

"D-Don't eat too much, Ram… You might get a tummy ache…" Rom commented as she walked in a few feet behind the twin in pink with Nepgear at her side.

The rest of breakfast went by without incident. The rest of the Oracles came in a few moments later after Nepgear and the twins. After eating most of the girls went back to their rooms to get ready for the trip to the graveyard. Nepgear stayed wanting to help clean up for Desmond sense he cooked. He was able to catch Histoire before heading back to his room. "Hey, can I ask you for something?"

"What is it?" the tome fairy asked.

…

…

…

"Hmmm. I see. I not sure if it is possible, but I will try. I'll need time though, I think three days shall suffice." Histoire stated.

"Okay, I'll be looking forward to what you find out. Thanks." He said before walking back to his room and collected the rest of his things that he needed.

* * *

After an hour of getting everything together, everyone was gathered together. "Is everyone ready?" Histoire questioned.

"YES! I'm so ready that I couldn't be more ready even if I stopped trying to be ready so let's GO!" Nepgear shouted.

"Nepear. Chill out. You're embarrassing yourself." Uni commented.

"Everything will go smoothly. I believe that you will all make this a complete success." The small fairy stated, before Kei brought something forward "Here is the Sharicite we prepared from the collected Shares between all of you."

"It's bigger than my face!" Ram said amazed at the object.

"Pretty…" Rom added as she stared at it.

"If we have this many Shares…" IF started.

"Yep. We can save Nep-Nep and the other CPUs, definitely!" Compa finished.

"I will act as the catalyst for the teleportation device and send you to the Gamindustri Graveyard. Nothing but my voice can penetrate the borders of that land, giving me no means to physically support you." Histoire stated.

"Oh, man! I don't care about that! I'm excited to meet my mature CPU wifeys!" Red shouted.

"Just don't try jumping on any of them, especially Blanc, you don't want to get on her bad side." Desmond warned.

"We've prepared as much as we possibly could for this." 5pb. stated.

"Listen! You are to save my darling Vert before anyone else. This is a direct order!" Chika yelled. Causing Desmond's eyes to roll.

"I'm save whoever I want first, and sorry toots, it's not Vert. Vert might be second though. But of course, all of that doesn't really matter when the Sharicite most likely will release them all at once." Desmond stated, earning a growl and a glare from Chika.

"Uni. Come back safe with Noire." Kei instructed.

"I pray for your success." Mina commented.

"Thanks, everyone. Well… here we go!" Nepgear exclaimed as they teleported.

…

…

…

A few moments past, as the party opened their eyes. They could see the graveyard in its entirety. "Respond if you have all managed to teleport there safely." Histoire asked.

"Yes. All accounted for." Nepgear answered.

"I feel so much sadness emanating from this land… This is the Gamindustri Graveyard, truly…" 5pb. stated in a sad tone.

"You think? Looks fun to me. I mean, look at all this old game junk!" Red shouted.

"I know what you mean, I love myself some retro games as well… But, I can't think about that when I can feel such a dark presence here. It's heavy, we'll need to be careful." Desmond stated looking around.

"It's scary…" Rom commented.

"Be brave, Rom. Gimme your hand." Ram exclaimed, extending her hand.

"My sister's in here somewhere…" Uni stated, scouting the immediate area.

"C'mon, enough chit-chat. Let's get back to where we last found the CPUs, all right, Gear?" IF said getting everyone's attention.

"Do you remember where it was, nyu?" Broccoli asked.

"Yep. This is exactly where we teleported in last time, too." Compa answered.

"We ran for our lives back then, so it stings my pride to talk about how we know where we're going." IF added.

"Well, I might've been able to handle it. But there was no way I was going to risk it. With Gear down and IF hurt, we had to fall back. We might not have had to, if two certain people would've just waited for me before heading out." The young man stated, giving a look at the guild agent and nurse.

"I said I was sorry about that!" IF quickly shouted.

The party started to move to where the CPUs were held.

* * *

As the party got to the spot, they heard voices, Nepgear was the first to spot the source "Look, over there! It's… oh, wait… Are they arguing?"

"Miss Underling and Mister Mouse are getting slapped silly." Compa commented.

"Gah! Y-You broads! Thank goodness you got here so fast… H-Hurry up and fight my boss!" Underling yelled, writhing in pain.

"My guardian angel Compa is back! I knew you'd save me, chu…" Warechu said, as the two moved away from Brave.

"What a warm welcome, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"Doesn't make me happy, though. Not like we're obligated to help them or anything." IF said, arms crossed.

"Iffy~, your tsun is showing~" Desmond teased, narrowly dodging a punch.

"Shut it!" she shot back.

"But we'll probably have to beat up that big guy eventually, right?" Red questioned.

"Can we do it…?" Nepgear thought out loud.

"Hey. Why are you doubting us now? This is no time to get cold feet." Uni stated firmly.

"W-Well, it's not intentional, but he's the one I lost to before, so I…" Nepgear started.

Uni gave a sigh "Was I here with you back then? No, I wasen't. So there."

"She's not wrong, I held my own when you were down. We can easily take him down with so many people." Desmond stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Yeah. We're all gonna fight this time, so we can't lose!" Ram shouted.

"Miss Nepgear… we'll win…" Rom added in her quiet tone.

"I could sing a nice power ballad to give you more strength…" 5pb. offered.

"Nepgear, you've got a pretty cut figure now. And if I'm complimenting you, then you know it's true!" Red exclaimed, with a smile.

"I'm good at making snap judgments. You need to be more confident, nyu." Broccoli commented.

"Thank you…" Nepgear said, looking at everyone.

"Ge-Ge, it's time to make us all really super proud of you, okay?" Compa stated.

"You can be a real handful… This time, you need to stand up with your head held high and fight!" IF added.

"Yes… I will!" Nepgear shouted.

"They are ready." White Disc stated.

"Then the time has come for us to give you our true powers." Black Disc added.

"We pray for your success." Green Disc commented.

"Take it… Our power…" Purple Disc said.

"Wow… I can feel it warming me from the inside out…" Nepgear stated as HDD was initiated. "Thank you very much, Mascots. I can do it. I can win!"

"Yo, mind speeding up your dumb narrative a bit, please!?" Underling pleaded.

"Sir CFW Judge, we brought you some new opponents! All of the CPU Candidates are here, chu!" Warechu yelled.

"Whaaaaaaat!? CPU Candidates!? Oooh, it's the weak little girl that ran from me! Hahahahhahaha! I haven't forgotten what you did to my eyes back then… You're already dead!" Judge shouted.

"Fat chance, tin can!" Desmond yelled stepping forward.

"Oooh, I remember you too, boy! You better not disappoint, we never got to finish our fight from before!" Judge exclaimed.

The battle began. Uni, Rom, Ram, Compa, and 5pb. all stayed in the rear as support. While Desmond, Nepgear, IF, Red, and Broccoli fought in the front. Desmond and IF went for quick strikes at the machine's sides. While Nepgear attacked from the front. Red and Broccoli snuck around behind Judge and attacked his legs there. Uni and Compa fired shots, the twins threw ice and fire at the CFW and 5pb. was keeping anyone from being hurt for too long. After a few minutes of not being able to do much Judge got into a fury. He swung his weapon in a large circle and then smashed the ground in multiple places. The CFW was finally able to land some hits, knocking back the ones up front and caused some rubble to land near the rear guard. Nepgear was able to hold back some of the hit before getting thrown back. Broccoli as able to dodge the attack while Red was hit with the blunt side of his weapon, tossing her aside. Desmond was able to jump in front of IF and put a shield up in time. After letting it down the moved back a bit. The rocks that were thrown thankfully hit no one.

"Is everyone okay!?" Desmond asked, he received a few nods and a few yes answers. except from Red, who was still trying to stand back up. "He's more durable than the others, get ready for round 2!"

Judge ran at them and slammed his weapon into the ground. The front line moved from the attack, the rear released another volley at him. The CFW brought up his weapon to shield himself. The machine got fed up with the attacks being thrown at him, before the front line could attack he kicked forward a multitude of rocks at the rear guard, hitting all but Ram who was able to create an ice shield just in time. After throwing the rocks the CFW targeted Nepgear who was looking at her friends that just got hit. He slammed his weapon into her sending her flying back. "That's it! I'm ending this!" Desmond shouted, fists clenched his beam swords. He dematerialized them, and held his right arm to his side. A haze could be seen around it, moving around in a swirling motion. "Ashes to ashes… and dust to dust…" flames started to move around his arm and jetted out, flowing haphazardly. "Nothing in my path…" The flames started to mold together. "Will withstand my touch…" the fire finally formed into a shape, a sword to be exact. Only a few small flares flaked off the sword. "Kasai!" After saying those words, he ran forward dodging the first attack from Judge. Desmond jumped toward the CFW, the machine threw an attack. This time the young man could not dodge the incoming weapon, he could only bring his fire sword onto Judge as he got hit. His weapon struck, slicing through the CFW like lava melting butter. After getting hit by judge's weapon the young man was tossed across the battlefield rolling as he landed. When the flame sword hit Judge, it cut him in half and the flames then moved onto the machine and started eating away at the CFW.

"I-Impossible… I…lost…?" Judge was awestruck. "No! Not possible… Not possib—Graaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" the fire finally ate enough of him for the CFW to explode.

Desmond trying to get off the ground. He panted heavily as he slowly rose back up to a knee. "Desmond!" IF yelled as she ran to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I…I'm okay… I've never been able to fully use that move… probably used up a little too much power… I just need some, agh!" he felt a strong pain and coughed up a large amount blood.

"Hey!" IF shouted, worry evident in her tone.

"Denfinetly used too much power… And of course getting hit with that weapon of his didn't help either." he stated.

IF pulled out a healing item and handed it to him. He took it and drank it. "Don't use whatever that attack was again. You can't hurt yourself like that." She commanded.

"I… was tired of seeing everyone else get hurt… I had to do something. He threw Red, hurt Gear. And, tossed debris at Rom and the others in the back… He need to be stop by any means." He responded, as his breathing started to regulate and the pain subsided.

"By killing yourself!? Newsflash, you can't help us if your dead to some stupid move that you don't really need!" she angrily barked back. Tears slowly moving down her face. "Sure, it was strong enough to wipe him out, but it doesn't matter if it's going to do the same to you! I don't want to lose you!" she clung to him.

He returned the embrace, comforting her "I'm not gonna die. You're worrying too much." He moved her face to look at him "Come on, stop the crying and start smiling." He gave a bright grin.

She chuckled a little and stopped her tears "That sounded like something Nep would say." She smiled back at him.

He rubbed the back of his head "Yeah, I guess she would say something like that… Speaking of her, let's go get them."

The two started to stand back up, Desmond being held up by IF due to the attack's effect lingering on his body. Compa ran up to them. "Are you two okay?" she asked.

"Ugh… Kinda. That last attack did a number on me, I'm gonna need some more healing medicine. IF handed me a low grade one, so I'm not in any danger." The young man answered. "What were you all doing?"

"I was healing everyone else's boo boos." Compa responded with a smile.

"Okay, let's get back together with the others." He stated as the three moved back to where the rest of the party was.

"N-No way… They blew up judge!?" Underling freaked out.

"That's crazy, chu… It's gotta be a dream…" Warechu added.

"Uh, this ain't the time to hang around and talk about it. W-We gotta run, quick!" Underling stated.

"We did it… We won! Goodness, hooray!" Purple sister shouted.

"Of course we did. What kind of idiot loses to the same opponent twice?" IF stated as the three arrived with the rest of the party.

"You did great out there, minus the getting hit part toward the end." Desmond commented.

"You were so cool out there! We could only run away before but this time we were like POW!" Compa added.

"We can celebrate later. Gear, use the Sharicite." IF commanded.

"Right." She responded and pulled out the Sharicite. She moved toward where the CPUs were caught.

The party stood in front of the CPUs. The Candidates were closer, while the others stood a bit back. "Noire… you look like you're in so much pain…" Uni commented.

"Blanc…" Rom said quietly.

"C'mon, hurry up and get them down!" Ram demanded.

"I'm trying. Wait for me, Neptune…" Nepgear stated as she used the Sharicite. After a flash of a bright light, the CPUs started to move. Neptune groaned a bit as she started to open her eyes.

"I see… a light…" Black Heart mumbled.

"I feel… a warmth…" Green Heart stated.

"I can… I can move…" White Heart said as she started to look around.

"Blanc!" Ram shouted.

"Blanc…" Rom said in a cheerful tone.

"Ram? And Rom? Did you come to save me…?" White Heart questioned. The twins cried as the jumped and hugged their sister. "We just reunited after a long time, so how about you stop crying, huh?"

"U-Um…" Uni tried to speak.

"Wow, that took a while. I figured you'd have tried to come here a little faster, Uni." Black Heart stated.

"I'm sorry! I tried so hard to be strong like you, but I…" Uni started.

"Oh, don't apologize or anything. I can tell how much stronger you are now. Thank you for coming." Black Heart interrupted. Uni moved closer to hug her sister.

"Nep Jr… I feel like it's been a really long time." Purple Heart stated.

"Neptune, is it really you…? This isn't a mirage, right? I was able to save you, right…?" Purple Sister asked.

"Yes. You certainly did. You've done well. Good girl." Purple Heart answered. Causing Purple Sister to embrace her sister, cry as she did so. "I'm so sorry for leaving you all alone. We're together now, though. And we always will be, all right?"

Desmond looked on at the spectacle and smiled. "You're excited, huh?" IF questioned, still partially holding the young man up.

"Of course, we finally got them back. How could I not be excited?" He answered.

"Well… I can't say that I'm not. But before you go over there… There is something that I need to say." She stated.

He turned his head to look at her, she wasn't look straight up at him. And when she did it was in quick glances "Go ahead, shoot."

"I... I… I-I like you… I need to say it... before Nep took you…" She said, finally looking into his eyes, a blush grew across her face.

He smiled at her "I've got to say… that does answer a few things, especially your questions last night. I think in some way I already knew how you felt, but was unsure. You shouldn't worry about Neptune in a situation like this." She looked at him with a questioning look. "Who said I could only be with one girl? Hmm? I care for you a lot, enough to say that I like you as well. I don't think that it would matter if you told me this now or if, say Neptune or any other girl and I got together, then. My answer would've been the same, you mean too much too me." He pulled her closer into a hug, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

Coming out of the hug she was in a bit of shock, her face was deep red. But all she could do was smile. "T-Thank you…" she giggled a bit. The two were behind the others so they didn't see their little discussion. After talking they moved a bit closer.

"This is a nosebleed treasure trove!" Red exclaimed looking at the CPUs.

"Boo… I wanna talk to Nep-Nep, too…" Compa pouted.

"Give the siblings some time alone, Compa. They've got a lot to say, I'm sure." IF stated.

"My… I am so envious of the others. Here I am without a sister to embrace me after so long…" Green Heart said.

A few people moved closer to the CPU "How about a young man, wanting to hug an old friend?" Desmond asked.

She turned to see him move toward her, still being supported by IF. 5pb. went with them "Oh, my." Green Heart smiled "I think that'll do for now…" She said with a small chuckle as she grabbed a hold of both Desmond and IF "It is wonderful to see you both again." She then let go of the two.

"L-Lady Vert, I'm happy to see you. Miss Chika is very, very eagerly awaiting your safe return." 5pb. said nervously.

"The Nep family is back together. Only one thing left to do, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"Yeah. Knock ASIC back into the hole they crawled out of." IF commented.

"Agreed." Desmond added.

"Well, it looks like you two have gotten close." Purple Heart said while behind Desmond and IF.

The two turned around, the young man rubbed the back of his head "I guess you could say that." He then tried to move to the CPU, but was still being held by IF. He looked back to her "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I've healed up enough that I should be able to at least limp around." She gave an understanding nod. He slowly limped the few feet over to Purple Heart, when he reached her he gave her a hug. "I missed you…" he said quietly.

"I did as well." She responded.

"You lied…" The young man stated.

"Excuse me?" Purple Heart questioned.

He pulled away enough from the hug to look at her face "You said that you, nor anyone else would leave or disappear. Remember? Then you all got trapped for three years."

"I'm sorry for that. How could I have known something like this would happen? But we are all together now. It looks like you have gotten a lot stronger sense we last saw each other. And how did you get so hurt?" she asked.

"Hehe… Yeah, I used an ability that might have used up a bit too much power and nearly knocked me out, while doing some damage to my body." He answered while rubbing the back of his head.

She shook her head "How careless. How could we get pudding if you're stuck in a room somewhere, unable to move?"

"Yeah, IF is wanting me not to use it anymore." He responded.

"I can see why, you can barely move." She giggled a bit "I don't remember you being quite this reckless."

"Yeah, well. That robot had to go down, it was one of the few things that I could think of that could take it out in one shot." He responded. "Now back to that promise you broke… I think as punishment, I get your pudding for a month." He had a grin on his face.

"N-Now, let's not be hasty here. Like I said it was beyond my control. I-I'll do anything else for you, just don't take my pudding." Purple Heart pleaded, slight panic showing on her face.

"Calm down I'm only joking. I'm just glad your safe…" he hugged her again. He let go of her "I suppose we should head back to the basilicom."

"Yes, I believe you are right. but before we do that, it appears that you and Iffy are something of an item. Am I correct?" She asked.

"Y-Yes, just recently actually." he answered.

"Hmm, I better not let myself fall to far behind~" she teased as she kissed his cheek and winked. "There's you reward for saving us. Now let's go."

Desmond and Purple Heart walked back to where IF was "Ready?" He asked, she nodded. The three walked back to where the rest of the party was at, the two girls helping the young man as they walked. After joining back up, and a few more reunions, the party left to go back to the basilicom.

* * *

 **I hope you all liked this chapter. I'll say that the "kasai" is suppose to be fire in Japanese, but that's trusting google so... ya. I personally don't know, so hopefully that is correct. Leave a review and let me know what you thought. And as always have a good day.  
**


	15. Chapter 15

**Welcome back to another installment of HDN: A New World. I'm sorry it took a bit longer than I would've wanted, to get this chapter out. But besides normal life things that get in the way, I've been playing a lot of AC Origins and COD WWII. And if your wondering, yes, I have enjoyed them both... A lot.**

 **blue555Nexus: I'm glad you've been enjoying it. And I'll do my best.**

 **RedBurningDragon: I do have thoughts for the godspeed and the IF's flame awakening. The story will go into re; birth 3 as well.**

 **And now to the story.**

* * *

The party moved toward the teleportation spot, for Histoire to bring them back to the basilicom. On the way there, Neptune had started teasing the new couple. "Soooo… How long have you two been dating? Have you two kissed? Have you… No… you haven't done that have you!?" causing IF to hold up her hands denying anything with a blush sprawled across her face.

Desmond looked over at the purple haired girl and sighed "No, Neptune. We've only been together now, what, 20-30 minutes. So, no. We haven't done anything. In fact, you've done more kissing than she has."

IF joined in "Y-Yeah, Nep. I've not even kissed him on the check." Pouting a little.

Neptune was caught off guard, reeling back a little. She then proceeded to scratch the back of her head. "W-Well that was to say thank you for saving us. Hahaha."

"Yes, you did say that. But what about not falling behind?" Desmond asked giving her a knowing glance.

Neptune's face flushed a little "W-What are you talking about? I think you might be hearing things mister."

"Aww, and now the teaser has turned into the one being teased. Your HDD self is much more straight forward about this subject. Which is rather interesting given how outgoing you are normally." Desmond stated looking straight at the girl.

Neptune looked around, the three were in the back of the group, so when she saw the rest of the party. She dashed off and started yelling at them "Hey, guys! These two are dating!"

Earning a small yelp and a sigh, the two walked up to everyone else.

"Is this true?" Vert asked.

"Yes." Desmond answered immediately.

Several congratulations were given to the two. Two small figures walked up to the young man and grabbed him. "Why don't you date Blanc instead! Cause if you two got married then you could actually be our big brother!" Ram exclaimed. Rom nodded in agreement.

"You can't force two people into a relationship. It just doesn't work like that. We would have to figure out how we would feel about each other before anything could happen." Desmond told the two.

"Desmond's right you two." Blanc agreed. She looked toward the young man "Thank you for helping Mina take care of them, these two have told me a few things already."

"No problem, it was nice to have a sister again. Or in this case two." He replied.

Noire tilted her head "What do you mean again?"

Desmond then told the party what happened to him before coming to the Hyperdimension. And for the few that did not know yet, they were left feeling rather sad for the young man. The only few that didn't feel too sad about the story, were the ones that heard the whole thing. Which consisted of IF, Compa, Nepgear, and the twins. Other than the boy telling the events of course.

"And see Blanc, we even helped instead of being a bother to him. We made it, so he could forget all that other junk." Ram stated, giving a proud pose.

"I'm sorry, making you have to recall all of that…" Noire apologized, looking downward.

Despite having a few tears stroll down his face, the young man was actually quite cheerful "Don't be. I'm fine, I have all of you to call friends now. I haven't been this happy since before the incident."

"Are you sure, you're not just trying to put on a bold front, are you?" Vert asked. "I've never had a sister, but I could never imagine losing one. And in front of you no less."

Neptune started to move toward Desmond, transforming before reaching him, trying to show that she was being serious "Hey, what's going on Neptune?" he asked.

She pulled him into a hug "I'm sorry. I should've given you time to yourself, when you first arrived instead of selfishly pulling you along everywhere." She pulled out of the hug enough to look into his eyes "But why didn't you come forward with any of this? You can't just suppress these kinds of things. I don't tell me it's "because you didn't want to bother us." Because you know I would've helped in any way I could."

He looked at Purple Heart and smiled "I know. I know you would've done anything possible to help if I felt down, or if I was in pain. It's just what you do, specifically your other self. But at that time, I still couldn't bring myself to even speak about it. It actually wasn't till after you all were captured that I finally came to terms of what happened. Because… I didn't want to lose any of you. You are all special. And don't be sorry about dragging me from here to there, or just to play some games with you. It's because of those things, they pulled me out of the dark, depressing pit I was in before coming here. If I was just left alone, I probably would've stayed the same and nothing would've been accomplished. So, thank you." She looked back at him with a bit of shock, and relief. They kept looking at each other for a couple of moments before a cough rung out, the two moved slightly from one another. Looking at the source it was IF.

She looked at them with a slight blush dusted across her face, moving toward the two. She reached for Desmond as she spoke "If you don't mind Nep, I'd like to walk with my b-boyfriend." She grabbed ahold of one of his arms 'That's going to take some getting used to saying.' She thought.

But before IF could move, Purple Heart grabbed the young man's other arm and pulled both him and IF toward her. "No, no, no. I don't think so~ If you want to walk with him that's all fine Iffy. But you two have to walk with me as well~" She gave a teasing wink, and pulled Desmond's arm into her chest. To the distain of IF, due to her lack of.

"F-Fine, but you have to change back. I don't want him getting distracted with those things." IF said in an annoyed tone.

"Hmmm, a bit sensitive now are we~" Purple Heart teased "But, I shall do as you asked." She transformed back to her human self, still holding on to the man's arm. "Who would've guessed that Dez would pick up this route so early?" she joked.

"I don't know exactly what went on here, but everything looks like it's back to some normalcy. So, let's get a move on. I'm tired and I feel a bit stiff staying in one position for three years." Noire stated, stretching a little.

"Yes, we need to get back. You all need to be filled in on what's happened." Desmond stated as he started to limp the best he could, with two girls holding on to him, back to the teleport spot. Once they reached the place they arrived, they were contacted by Histoire and teleported back to the basilicom.

* * *

After arriving at the basilicom, the CPUs went to different rooms to rest. Histoire pulled the rest of the group together and congratulated "Well done, all of you. With this mission a success, the path to our victory can now be seen."

"Where's Blanc…?" Rom asked.

"Yeah, seriously! I want to brag more about what awesome stuff we've done." Ram added.

"I agree! It has been three agonizing years. How dare you impede my alone time with my darling sister, Vert!" Chika shouted.

"The CPUs require rest. Please be patient." Histoire answered. "After all, we will need their assistance as soon as they are able to provide it."

"Now, now. Let your big sister get some rest, okay?" Mina said to the twins.

"Chika, don't act hysterical in front of the children. It's hardly befitting of an Oracle." Kei stated.

"Yeah, Chika! Don't throw a fit, there are children here." Desmond teased.

"Tch… I-I know that! I just have to wait a little bit longer, right?" Chika questioned, before snapping at the young man "And you be quiet Desmond!"

"What should we do in the meantime, Histoire?" Nepgear asked.

"We wait. Once the CPUs have recovered, we will rid the world of ASIC in their entirety. In doing so, we will be preventing the revival of the Deity of Sin." Histoire answered.

"Oh, that thing! Wasn't it gonna revive soon?" Red questioned.

"Your efforts to collect Shares should have delayed the process, but even so…" Histoire started.

"It's been a while since we heard the revival would be "soon." Time's probably short, nyu." Broccoli interjected.

"We should up the tempo, then…" 5pb. added.

"Why rush things now? We need the CPUs' help either way." IF stated.

"Yep, yep. We need to wait for them to have a clean bill of health!" Compa said.

"Indeed. You all have earned this time to rest and recover, as well. Take some time off, and—" Histoire started, before a loud rumble was heard across the land and the basilicom shook.

"Wh-What the goodness!?" Nepgear said in shock.

"That was no ordinary tremor." Uni stated.

"The locus… appears to have been the Gamindustri Graveyard! What could be happening there?" Histore questioned.

"The shaking has subsided… It would be dishonest of me to say this isn't concerning…" Kei commented.

"I only have bad feelings about it, nyu." Broccoli added.

"Um… Want me to go check it out?" Nepgear asked.

"But… you need some time off to rest and recover, do you not?" Histoire questioned.

"Oh, come on. Waiting won't mend matters. I'd rather find out what caused that, myself." Uni stated.

"We're gonna go too, right, Rom?" Ram said looking toward her sister.

"I wanna go…" Rom answered.

"The CPU Candidates seem willing, so why should we stand in their way?" Chika commented.

"Very well… But please, use caution. There is no telling what awaits you." Histoire warned.

"Okay, then let's get a movin'" Desmond said in a cheery tone, before getting smacked upside the head by IF. "Ow, hey."

"No, you're not going anywhere, limpy. You can't fight until you're healed, got it." IF stated in firm tone.

"What is this cruelty? To be told not to fight, and by my own girlfriend no less." He said in a dramatic fashion, before opening his eyes back up. "But I have been healing up quite well, no limping if you didn't notice. I might not be at 100%. But with those healing items, I'd say I'm back up to about… 75%" He moved over to the couch.

"You're still not going that's final. Let's go everyone." IF said, before getting pulled by Desmond into a kiss. Catching the girl off guard. A strong blush forming on her face.

"Gotcha~" he teased "There now you can go. Tell me all about what's going on out there though." He sat down on the couch.

"Y-Y-You c-can't just do that out of the blue!" IF scolded, still red in the face.

The young man just shrugged "Why not? You wanted a kiss didn't you. So, you got one." He finished saying with a grin. She just grunted and moved to the rest of the party, departing to the graveyard. "I was right." He said before laughing a little as he waited for their return.

* * *

While waiting Histoire moved over to the young man and handed him an item. "I was able to accomplish this much faster than expected. It should work just as you asked." She stated.

He took it and put it in his pocket. "Thank you for this Histoire. This should be interesting, and should help protect Gamindustri… Again, thank you." He quickly stood up, looking out the window. "I feel… uneasy… danger. Send me to the graveyard, Histoire!" he pleaded.

"B-But, you shouldn't be going without fully healing." She responded.

"They are in trouble, send me now!" He demanded.

"O-Okay." She started up the portal.

After arriving he moved quickly, tracking their footprints. He finally spotted them, talking with a woman. It took him a moment before realizing who it was, CFW Magic. He started running toward everyone, seeing them ready for a fight. He got to them just as the battle started, the party attacked the woman but couldn't do much as their attacks were either blocked or dodged. They stood back, Magic, then finally began to start an attack. But before her blade could make contact anyone. Desmond stepped in the way, her scythe cutting him across the chest as he let out a yell. Blood pouring from the wound. Nepgear being the furthest front, caught him before he could fall to the ground.

"D-Desmond!? What are you doing?" She said as she looked onward with surprise.

"W-What… does it look l-like. I'm saving y-you all." He responded with nothing but a smile on his face.

IF ran up and covered her mouth "No, no, no, no." tears started to fall "D-Desmond…" she muttered.

"Big brother!" The twins shouted.

"D-Don't worry about me… N-Now, if you d-don't m-mind. I'll finish this b-battle you all s-started." He stated as he started to try to stand up, but was being held down by Nepgear.

IF knelt next to the two "You idiot. This is not a time for joking around, Desmond."

"What do you think you're trying to do…? You need to stay still or else you might bleed to…" Nepgear started but stopped as her eyes started to water.

He grabbed IF's wrist, while looking at Nepgear "I said n-not to worry… Histoire gave me something, that'll help. So, no crying you two. Got it." He pulled out the object that the tome gave him.

Magic looked at the spectacle "What a fool. Being an ordinary human and still standing in front of a blade. Brave, but foolish."

"Y-You shut up! He's anything but ordinary." IF shouted.

"Th-Thanks sweetheart." He said with a smile, then looked toward Magic "She's right… I'm full of surprises." He brought the object out in front of him. He then moved it toward his chest as he yelled one word. "Access!"

A great wind blew throughout the area, pushing people back. IF and Nepgear were forced to move back from its shear strength. What they saw was not a typical CPU pillar. No, but one as black as the night. After the pillar left, they saw who they presumed to be Desmond. He looked quite different than before. He grew a few inches more. Wore a black skintight suit from the neck down, that had circuit like lines running across it, and the lines pulsated a scarlet red. The gloves he wore were black with dark red tips. The wings on his back were like that of hazard signs, also black in color. His hair turned a blood red, as it was slicked back moving down to his shoulders. And when he opened his eyes, all that could be seen was darkness. Except for the bright red power button irises. He stood still as he moved his fingers around "Ahhh… so this is the power of a CPU…" his voice deeper than before "It's exquisite. I do wonder all that could be done with this."

Magic looked on in confusion and disbelief, but hid it well. "So… A male has become a CPU. Quite interesting, but that won't change a thing." She started to move forward barring her weapon. "You'll all die here!" she shouted before bringing her scythe down on Desmond.

"Desmond!" IF shouted.

Desmond stood still as the weapon was brought down upon him. Right before it struck him, he grabbed it, stopping its movement. He looked up at Magic. "That's all you got? Because if so, this won't go well for you." He said, no emotion on his face. He released the blade, Magic moving back.

"What is your name, CPU? And what nation would you be apart off?" Magic asked.

"My name…? My name is… Red Heart. The CPU of all four nations. But you may call me your destroyer." He simply stated. Anger slowly growing in his expression "After all you are the one who held my friends captive for so long. So, I think it would be wonderful to crush you underfoot."

"It doesn't matter how much you talk, Red Heart. You still won't win; these others are too weak. And you just became a CPU, you won't know how to control your powers." Magic stated. "This is the end!"

"It's not over yet!" A voice rung out, as the CPUs joined everyone.

"Neptune!" Nepgear shouted.

"You'll be fine, Nep Jr." Purple Heart stated.

"Ahh, the CPUs themselves. You should have remained in your prison of slumber." Magic said.

"Sucks for you, but it's not really my thing to accept defeat." Black Heart rebutted.

"Plus, one must exercise to retain one's youthful figure. Come, let us dance on the field of battle." Green Heart commented.

"Screw these intros! I'm gonna pay you back for the crap you put me through!" White Heart shouted.

"I agree with Blanc. Let's just kill her." Red Heart added.

"Interesting. If you wish to cling onto life that desperately, I will allow it… for now." Magic stated.

"Wow, gee, thanks. You're trying to sound cool, but you're just running away, you know?" Black Heart questioned.

"No. Destroying the CPUs is not a part of my mission. That pleasure belongs to our goddess. Besides, you stopping even a fragment of her power is the greatest farce of our time." Magic responded.

"Oops, she's right! We don't have time to fight her!" Red shouted.

"The big rat is on its way, nyu." Broccoli commented.

"Big rat? You mean to say that a portion of the Deity of Sin is within it?" purple Heart asked.

"The choice is yours. Face me if you wish. It would be my pleasure to see you all keeled over in pain again." Magic taunted.

"Tch. You're still the best at pissing me off, y'know that? Get your rotten face outta my sight!" White Heart yelled.

"As you wish. I do hope we can cross blades again, someday." Magic said before leaving.

"She's gone." Purple Heart pointed out.

"Maybe now isn't the time to settle the score with her. Well, anyway…" Black Heart started.

"That imminent threat is gone, so shall we return to our human forms?" Green Heart questioned.

"If she did fight us, it would've spelled trouble. I don't have much juice left, so to speak." White Heart commented.

The CPUs transformed back, except for Red Heart. "Phewwww. Uh-huh, this form feels the best, no doubts 'bout dat." Neptune cheerfully stated. She started to look at Red Heart, as she walked up to him. Turning to the others to ask "Soo… This is Dez?"

"Yes, it is I." Red Heart spoke.

"He said Histoire gave him something and then he became a CPU somehow." Nepgear answered.

"Wowwy wow. You look awesome! Like some kind of evil looking hero, or something!" Neptune shouted. "What's your name in that form?"

"I guess I do…" he said, while looking at himself. "I am called Red Heart, CPU of all four nations."

"What!?" Noire shouted.

"Excuse me?" Vert questioned.

"The hell do you mean by that?" Blanc asked.

"Histoire linked a Sharacite with all four nations. Allowing me both access to the power of your four nations, and my own. The Sharacite now lies within me, but with it linked up with all the nations, I will not cause any further skew in Shares between the nations." Red Heart answered.

"Ooo, that sounds like it could be pretty awesome!" Neptune exclaimed.

"You could say that. But, this form is rather draining. Histoire said it might do this, the first time activating it." Red Heart then transformed back. After doing so, he collapsed. The others moved to his side, worried. Even more so for the CPUs, when they saw the large cut across his chest. Though not bleeding anywhere as bad as it was before.

"W-What happened!? Dez! Get up!" Neptune shouted, shaking him.

"It won't help, he's out cold… Someone will have to carry him." Blanc stated.

"We'll take him back to the basilicom. We're not quite in fighting condition right now." Vert commented.

"You all hurry and beat that creature. We don't need that thing running around." Noire added.

"I'm going with you all." IF stated.

"No, we need you to go with everyone else to defeat that rat." Noire responded firmly.

"No! I'm not leaving him!" IF shouted back. "N-Not when he's like this…" she muttered.

"Noire's right. You'll be needed with the fighters." Blanc commented.

IF balled up her fists, about to speak. But before she could she felt someone grab her. She turned to look and saw Neptune, holding her coat. When she looked at her face IF could see tears slowly flowing down the sides of her cheeks. Catching IF off guard a bit. "W-We might need your help Iffy… I-I want to go with Dez too… But we can't… What do you think he would say in this situation? He'd tell us not to worry about the scratches or cuts that he had and for us to go kill the monster. And right now, that's what we need to do."

IF looked at Neptune, knowing she's correct in her statement. As much as she hated it, she knew she had a job to do first. She let out a sigh before speaking "O-Okay, Nep. I know I'm not the only one worrying about him. But that doesn't allow me to do whatever I want."

Neptune hugged the brunette. "I knew you'd understand."

"I'll have Mina heal him the best she can when we arrive." Blanc stated.

"O-Okay. Then we'll go and defeat the rat." Nepgear commented.

The CPUs moved back to the basilicom, taking Desmond with them. Except for Neptune, who went with the others to stop the giant rat.

* * *

After arriving back at the basilicom the CPUs moved Desmond to his room where Mina tried to heal some of his wounds. The CPUs confronted Histoire about Desmond's new power.

"Histoire do you mind telling us how Desmond happened to become a CPU? He said that you gave him a Sharicite." Noire questioned.

"He said that he was the "CPU of all four nations" and that you linked the Sharicite with our nations. The hell for?" Blanc asked.

"We would really like to know." Vert added.

She nodded "I will explain as you wish. Before going to bring you all back from the graveyard, Desmond came to me and asked if I could make him into a CPU. When he requested it, he said that he would like for him to be connected to the four nations, so he would not be pulling any Shares one way or another, nor toward his own self. His intentions are purely to protect the world, but he wanted to do it while not harming the nations through Shares. His Sharicite connects automatically with other Sharicites to keep the flow of power constant. When I was doing research on the ability to make him into a CPU, I found a strange item in the Sharicite room. After a few minutes of data analysis, it had a lot of data that allowed me to easily create the Sharicite that I created for Desmond. That item was used to create the Sharicite. It's amazing that a little orb could hold a secret to change a human into a CPU."

"Well, that explains more of the situation at least." Vert commented.

"As long as he doesn't try to take any Shares from Lowee, then I'm okay with it." Blanc stated.

"His HDD is rather interesting… Not just the looks of it but in his attitude. From what I could remember I don't think he was always that calm, he'd at least try to cut up with a joke or two. And before Magic left I could feel a small amount of a menacing aura… bloodlust, maybe… I don't know. But at least his mind seemed like it was still all together, clearly knowing who we all were. This HDD of his feels to be quite powerful, something that we just might need to defeat the Deity of Sin." Noire said while holding a hand to her chin.

Mina emerged from the young man's room and walked over to the rest of the ladies "I got the bleeding to completely stop. But he's still in rough condition."

"Thanks Mina." Blanc responded.

"Now that we have all of this under control, I suggest that we all get some rest. And wait for the others to return." Vert stated, the other two CPUs agreeing. They all waited for the return of the rest of the party.

* * *

The party defeated the enhanced Warechu and returned back to the basilicom to report what happened. After telling the Oracles and CPUs, Kei spoke first "I had no idea what it meant when the rat appeared, but to hear it heralds the Deity of Sin's return."

"It exhibited tremendous power. We must devise a countermeasure as soon as possible." Mina commented.

"Agreed. Let us all return to our home nations and enact the new policy, as discussed." Histoire said.

"Huh? A nude policy? What'chu plannin' now, Pervsty?" Neptune questioned.

"We made a new law restricting Arfoire worship. Sale of ASIC products is banned Additionally, any who conduct illegal downloads and uploads will be met with severe fines. Any auction sites posting the sale of illegal goods will be met by our legal professionals, and…" Histoire answered, but got interrupted during her talk.

"Whooooa, too much ham-fisting to stick in my mouth. Lemme soak it all in. How's that gonna help?" Neptune interrupted.

"If it goes according to plan, it will prevent any more Shares from going to ASIC." Blanc answered.

"It might not be the most popular policy we've enacted, but it levels the playing field." Noire added.

"Okay. But if that's all it takes, why didn't we do this before?" Neptune questioned.

"I assume that is because we were not present to approve the policy." Vert responded.

"Yes. Without the CPUs around to endorse the policy, the people would simply ignore it. But with your return, I believe this timing will prove to be quite effective." Histoire stated.

"Gotcha. Except I don't. But if you think it'll work, you do your thing, Histy!" Neptune said.

"I understand the policy, but is there something in particular you need us to do?" Nepgear asked.

"We have another job for you girls. Take care of any outstanding ASIC members and the monsters they've unleashed." Chika responded.

"Promote yourselves through your public works. In fact, showing yourselves to the public more often in general will surely move the people's hearts." Mina added.

"Consider it PR that you don't have to think about too hard. It fits your label well, really." Kei commented.

"You do realize that last sentence was totally unwarranted, don't you?" IF remarked.

"Sounds easy to me. We can do what we want!" Red exclaimed.

"Yeah, easy-sneezy! This'll be cake." Neptune said.

"Those two tend to sound oddly similar…" 5pb. noted.

"Time is of the essence. I am counting on you all. Show us your true strength." Histoire stated.

"Yes, we'll do our best." Nepgear responded.

The group went to do their thing for the night, and would head out in the morning to work on fighting back against the rest of ASIC. IF and Neptune entered Desmond's room, seeing him lie there, bandages around his torso. His breathing a bit rough. They sat in chairs on each side of him, IF on his right, Neptune his left. Both felt saddened by his current state. IF grabbed his hand and gently rubbed his face. "You really like him, don't you?" Neptune asked.

IF didn't look up, and sighed before answering "O-Of course… he's always been around since you all were captured, helping with the nations trying his hardest to get you all back. I picked up some of that motivation. There were even times that he worked himself so hard that he'd pass out, just after getting into the building." She started to smile as she still looked at the boy. "Even when times were tough, he'd crack jokes, help us with whatever, not ever caring about what happened to him. Now j-just when I tell him to stay back, he doesn't l-listen and nearly gets himself killed, after injuring himself just earlier." IF started to tear up a bit.

Neptune moved over to her and hugged the brunette, rubbing her back. "Hey, don't cry. He'll bounce back, I know it. And he's a CPU now, so his durability is going to be even better now." She tried to cheer IF up. "I don't like seeing him like this either… I missed him a lot. He's always treated me nice, even when I'm being… well you know, my awesome self." Neptune stated causing IF to chuckle a little.

"Newsflash Nep, you're not _that_ cool." IF commented, smiling.

Neptune held her chest in dramatic fashion "Ohh, that hurt Iffy, how could you say that?! I totally am!" She joked "See, everything's gonna be fine. You just need to laugh a little."

"I guess your right Nep." IF responded.

"My work here is done." Neptune said cheerfully as she went back to the other side of the bed.

* * *

A few hours later. It was about one in the morning, Neptune and IF both fell asleep in Desmond's room. Neptune jumped in the bed. While IF stayed in the chair, slightly laying on the bed. During this time someone walked in the room, causing IF to stir "W-Who's t-there?" the room was dark.

"I-I-I'm sorry. I-It's me… 5pb." the girl answered, she moved closer to the bed.

"O-Oh, hey. W-What are you doing up at this time?" IF asked, after looking at the clock.

"I-I couldn't fall asleep, so I w-wanted to check up on Desmond." She answered.

"Okay… you two are kinda close, right?" IF asked, still sitting in the chair.

"I guess you could say that… We're good friends. B-But don't think that I'll try to take him from you…" She said nervously.

"Don't worry too much about that type of thing, we kinda have an understanding. Nep is kinda going for him as well." IF pointed at the sleeping girl. "He said something along the lines of there was no rule that said he couldn't date more than one girl." She chuckled a bit. "So, continue."

"O-Okay… We'll he's always been a help with concerts. He's great at working security with Cave. And he's been a great friend. I know he tries to get me to be less shy, but it doesn't really work. He's always been a strong ally to lean on, or hide behind. So, seeing him like this is… disheartening." Lyrica stated, as a frown formed on her face.

"I know what you mean. I'm glad that you care enough to check up on him, but we should get to sleep, now. It's rather late." IF said, looking back at the clock.

"Y-Yeah, I should try to do that. Thanks for talking with me." She walked to the door "Goodnight." Opening it and walking out.

"Night." IF responded. After the door closed she laid her head back down on the bed as she sat in the chair, falling back asleep.

* * *

A couple of days passed, everyone had been working hard on trying to stop ASIC. Desmond was still recovering in his room. The others checking up on him periodically. It was dawn, the sun coming in through the window. IF and Neptune in the same spots they've sleep at for the past few days. Anytime they had away from everything else, they were watching over the young man in case he woke up. He still had not awoken sense he passed out after transforming, until that morning. He slowly opened his eyes, looking around to see IF sleeping in the chair at the side of the bed holding his hand. He just smiled at the sight. He tried to move a little, feeling a dull pain in his chest. He stopped trying to move and stayed laying there, feeling something on his left. He removed his hand from IF's grasp, and pulled the blanket aside to see Neptune laying there holding his arm. As he started to settle himself back down, he coughed, causing IF to wake. Her head shot up, looking around the room before settling on him. He smiled at her as her brain was still trying to process what was going on. "Hey, good morning, sleepyhead."

IF's eyes popped a bit, finally realizing what was happening. She started to move closer to him, before he could say anything else she slammed her face into his, kissing him. He hugged her during this time. Once they moved apart, they just smiled at each other for a few moments. He finally spoke back up "So, how long have I been out for?"

"It's been about three days. We've been so worried about you." She answered.

"I told you not to worry, I'm fine aren't I. What's happened since?" He asked.

"For the most part we've just been trying to squash any movements of ASIC, but it's been difficult. Anytime we take something out, it comes back. We're trying to do the best we can. Now back to before all of this happened… You idiot!" She smacked him a few times, letting out some frustration. "Why did you do that, you really could've died?! Taking on a blade like that! The CPUs have a natural defense for things like that, you don't! Well, now you might… But that doesn't matter right now. I'm just to frustrated with what you did. You need to start…" she was saying, until he pulled her into a hug, causing her to stop talking.

"I'm sorry for that… But I could tell you all were in trouble. I couldn't just stay back and do nothing. All I could think when I saw you all trying to fight her, and her attack incoming was just to get in between you all." He stated as he rubbed her back.

"I guess it's fine… being with you is worth all the crap going on." She said, as she smiled. He let go of the girl as she moved back a little. "Are you hungry."

"Indeed, definitely, yes." He said in a slightly joking tone. "Go ahead and get something for Neptune as well would ya? I'm gonna wake her up."

"Sure, I could. I'll be back in a few." She stated as she left the room.

"Thanks, sweetie." He said, before turning toward the purple ball of energy, still holding onto his left arm. He used his right to shake her. "Wake up Neptune."

She moved around, letting go of his arm, but grabbing ahold of his torso. "J-Just five… more minutes…" she muttered.

"If you don't get up then you don't get any pudding today." He whispered in her ear. Instantly earning a reaction as she slowly started to stir awake.

"N-No, my pudding… I'm a-awake…" she muttered as she started to sit up, looking around. Expecting to see IF, Histoire, or anyone else but saw no one. Until her eyes finally looked toward the boy, who laid against the wall behind him. Her eyes lighting up "Dez!" she jumped onto him, embracing him.

"Ow, ow, ow. Not too hard, that cut still hurts." He commented, patting her head.

She held on, but not squeezing as tight. "Sorry, sorry. We've just been worried about you and all. But I knew that you'd be fine." She looked up at the boy smiling.

"Thanks… Hey, I've got IF to make us some breakfast." He stated.

"Awesome! I'll just lay here with you then." She responded, nuzzling into him. He bent his head down, kissing her forehead. She could feel her face heat up a little. The two quickly fell back to sleep.

After a short time, IF entered the room with some cereal and juice. Once she entered she saw Desmond laying against the wall and Neptune laying on him, as they had been for the past few minutes. She placed the food on the table and shook the two. "Come on, get up you too. I have food for you." Desmond opened his eyes, and then shook Neptune awake. She sat at the edge of the bed.

"Thanks." The young man said as IF handed him his food.

"Thanks, Iffy~" Neptune said in a sing song tone.

IF sat back in her chair. "I probably should let Compa know that you're up. She'll need to do a check up on you."

"Okay, just let her know when I'm done eating." He responded.

The three ate and enjoyed each other's company. After they were done, IF told Compa that Desmond had awoken. Once she entered his room she told for IF to stay outside, and forced Neptune out. Once she was done examining his injuries, she told them that it would still be a couple of days before he could move around. And about a week before he could fight again.

During that time not much happened besides the party going on quests and Desmond being confined to the basilicom. When the others would get back, he would usually have food made and then get pulled into playing games with Neptune, cuddling with IF, or talking, playing games, etc. with the other girls.

One day the girls were heading back from doing quests "And so, evil has bitten the dust!" Red shouted.

"It's sweet to see an evil empire brought to its knees, but this cycle is getting to be a real bore-chore." Neptune pointed out.

"Lame, lame, lame! How much longer do we have to do the same thing!?" Ram asked.

"I agree with Ram, actually. This is growing tedious." Uni added. "Treating the different symptoms won't necessarily cure the disease, you know?"

"I've never been one to employ ineffective tactics, after all." Vert stated.

"But what else can we do?" Compa questioned.

One of IF's phones started to ring "One sec. Great, here comes a call from "Hey Listen, Nevi" … Hello? Yeah… Okay, thanks."

"I bet Dez would get the reference if he was here." Neptune said.

IF hung up her phone "Perfect timing, everyone. We found a key ASIC facility that manufactures the mod chips."

"Oh, a hardware factory? If we can stop them there…" Nepgear begun.

"We could potentially halt the distribution of those stupid things entirely." Noire interjected.

"Oooh! Fun! Are we gonna rappel in through the windows? Where is it?" Neptune questioned.

"Lastation. Let's go settle this shall we?" IF stated.

"Hey, Compa. Is Dez good to go beat down some baddies?" Neptune asked.

"Yessy. I checked up on him earlier today, but told him to stay just in case. But he is in good enough condition to fight." Compa answered, smiling.

"Then I'll call him and tell him where to meet us." IF stated as she pulled out her phone. "I bet he's itching to get into a fight."

The party then made their way to the Arfoire Factory in Lastation.

* * *

The party, including Desmond, arrived at the factory that ASIC were making Arfoire chips. Once they entered the place, Nepgear's eyes started to sparkle "This is the factory? Goodness… So many knick-knacks and hardware gadgets I've never seen before!"

"Don't be happy about what you see here!" Uni scolded.

"Pretty impressive that ASIC could handle such a large operation without getting detected sooner." IF commented.

"Yeah, I guess Lastation's watchful eyes aren't so good outside the cities, huh." Desmond added looking around the place.

"H-Hey! You take that back, we've been preoccupied." Uni shouted.

"Hey, so, can we break stuff yet?" Red asked.

"Already am! This place makes those crappy chip things, so let's crush everything!" Neptune yelled.

"You sound like a barbarian. If you make a big scene, they'll make a big scene, they'll run away with their goods." Noire chastised.

"Aim for the highest rung on this factory's ladder, and the operation will grind to a halt." Blanc added.

"You mean, like, a manager?" 5pb. questioned.

"Without a leader, most groups roll over and surrender without a fight, nyu." Broccoli responded.

"That's right Broccoli. It's nice to such wisdom in one so… small. I don't know how old you are, I just know that you're tiny." Desmond said.

The group moved through the place until they heard yelling. So, they followed where the voice came from. When they saw the owner of the voice, most just sighed. "Oh. You again. Great." IF said.

Underling started to speak before she turned around. "Huh? No backtalk! Get working! Er, crap! Wh-What're you dumb broads doing here!?"

"Heya, hiya, how'ya! We're here to smash and crash this factory into bits." Neptune exclaimed.

"Smashy smashy, nyu." Broccoli added.

"It's been awhile since I've been able to hit something. I think it's time to release some… frustration." Desmond stated, as he cracked his knuckles. And a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Well? Hurry up and run away like you always do." Uni taunted.

"Shaddap! You make it sound like all I do is run away!" Underling shouted.

"But you always do. Right, Rom?" Ram asked.

"Uh-huh…" Rom agreed.

"Well… if the shoe fits." Desmond added.

"Grrr… Makin' a fool outta me… I can't let this mission fail!" Underling said out loud to herself.

"Miss Underling is certainly motivated today, isn't she?" Compa said.

"We can't fail, either. You aren't allowed to make any more of these illegal devices!" Nepgear declared.

The fight started and like all the rest, it didn't last long. Leaving it a one-sided beat down. "Dammit!" Underling screamed after the loss.

"Yay, we win again!" Ram shouted.

"I don't know why you thought you could take us all on." Blanc stated.

"Sh-Shut up, okay!? There are way too many of you! You're all cheaters!" Underling yelled.

"Hmm. Pot, meet kettle." Desmond stated.

"Cheaters? Heavens, with the items you develop, that title is better suited to you, is it not?" Vert responded.

"All your factory buddies ran off. Maybe you should… you know… Follow suit, or… something?" Neptune said.

"I can't. CFW Magic herself told me to hold this position." Underling answered. "No way I'm gonna run away just because you broads strong-arm me!"

"Wow, she really IS motivated today." Red mentioned.

"You'll never win against us. Give up." Noire commanded.

Underling started to growl in anger. Another voice was brought to the forefront. "Such admirable resolve."

Uni noticed who spoke "That's…"

"CFW Brave, sir!?" Underling said in surprise.

"Stand aside. I will take it from here." Brave directed.

"B-But, the factory… I can't fail my mission…" Underling tried to form a response.

"Nothing will come from throwing your life away in vain. Go." Brave stated.

"Tch… Yes, sir…" Underling said annoyed.

"We meet again." Brave said.

"Yeah. I've been waiting for this." Uni responded.

"I cannot allow you to destroy this precious factory of ours. Leave at once, or else." Brave stated.

"We will not. We can't let this place continue to make those chips." Nepgear responded.

"Hang on, Nepgear. Let me talk to him." Uni said walking forward. "You're our enemy, but honestly, I couldn't sense any evil intentions from you before. But I was wrong. I can't believe anyone good would defend what's going on in this factory."

"Destroying this place would bring sadness to the world's children who seek happiness! I cannot allow it!" Brave answered.

"What? If those chips are spread, the world will fall into chaos. Then nobody will be happy!" Uni shouted.

"Your logic is naïve." Brave commented.

"And yours is bigoted!" Desmond yelled, moving to stand beside Uni.

"If nobody buys anything, and gets everything illegally, how can the economy possibly prosper?" Uni questioned. "No new entertainment will be made! That's essentially damning all of Gamindustri!"

"Your words come from the mouths of those who lack the talent to create truly memorable games!" Brave shot back.

"Talent is irrelevant! Competition is what sparks new and creative content!" Uni stated.

"She's right. Without any revenue flowing to the creators, all games would cease to exist. And with more companies making games the more creative and the better the games would be." Desmond added.

"Then what of the children who lack the means to enjoy such things?" Brave asked. "Is your answer to create a monetary floor that restricts access to what ought to be enjoyed by all!?"

"It's impossible for the people to truly, sincerely enjoy something that they obtained illegally!" Uni exclaimed.

"Then why do they seek an answer like Arfoire? This is what the public desires!" Brave said.

"I won't matter, illegally obtained items in the hands of children will only harm them. It'll teach them that it's okay to steal, is that what you are saying you are fine with telling this world's children that it's okay to be a criminal?" Desmond questioned.

"Not everyone has a strong will. Some fall into temptation more easily than others. That's why we need to draw a very clear line between what is right and what is wrong!" Uni responded.

"Our ideals shall never coincide. I cannot accept your argument." Brave stated.

"I was hoping you'd have enough wisdom to see the truth…" Uni said in a saddened tone.

"Enough prattling. I will defeat you for the sake of this world's children!" Brave yelled.

"And I will defeat you for the very same reason. I'll protect this world's children form temptation!" Uni said with determination.

"It's sad, doing the wrong thing for the right reason. You have let ASIC twist your mind, until now. Until now you have become what you swore to destroy. I will do what I must." Desmond said before materializing his swords.

"You will try." Brave said as the battle began.

Desmond and Brave rushed each other, clashing swords. A few swipes were thrown at each other before locking weapons. A couple of seconds later Desmond shouted "Now!" as he did he moved back, a barrage of bullets and magic attacks rained on Brave's body. A few seconds of ranged attacks, then the Nep sisters, IF, and Desmond went for the attack. Desmond attacking the front, IF and Neptune the sides, and Nepgear attacking the back. Brave was only able to block the incoming attack from Desmond, but was also successful in hitting Neptune with his fist knocking her back. Neptune hit the ground and rolled back into a standing position. The others jumped back for a moment. Desmond and IF performed a simultaneous attack. Desmond shot a multitude of fireballs, IF performed her demonic inferno, leaving the area around the CFW covered in flames and smoke. The Nep sisters readied their special attack. They both ran forward, Nepgear striking the CFW's body a few times with heavy swings. Neptune then jumped up and slashed Brave once before landing on the ground, the slash created a large explosion. Brave barely able to stand stumbled forward. Desmond dematerialized his swords and formed a larger than normal hand blade, blue in color. He quickly took the opportunity and sliced the CFW in half at the waist, dropping Brave to the floor.

"Have I… truly lost…?" Brave questioned as he laid there.

"Yeah. It's over." Uni answered, walking closer to the top half of the robot's body.

"Why? Was my strength of will not enough? Did I not desire to protect the children enough?" Brave asked.

"Our desires are the same. But our means of accomplishing those desires are different." Uni responded.

"Tell me. Will the children be happy? Will they find joy through your means?" he asked her.

"Yes. I swear as a CPU Candidate that I'll build a lasting future for the next generation to enjoy." Uni stated.

"We all will build toward a better future for the children." Desmond spoke as he walked up behind Uni, placing a hand on her head. Causing her to squirm slightly, before focusing back on Brave.

"And now, after all this time, please give me your name." Brave said, and she answered. "Uni. I entrust you with my will. Protect, and nurture, the joy of this… world's… children…"

"And you young man… What is your name?" Brave asked. Desmond gave his. "It was an honor to be able to meet others that care for the youth's joy as much… as I… have…" After saying this his body exploded. Desmond moved in front of Uni and threw up a shield to protect them from the blast. After the smoke started to fade, he dissipated the shield.

Uni looked at the remains. "I will. Be at peace, Brave."

"The only one of them to at least have his heart in the right place, what a waste… He could have been a great ally." Desmond stated, a bit dejected. He placed a hand on Uni's shoulder before they walked back to the rest of the group. The party headed back to Planeptune's basilicom.

* * *

A few days later, Desmond was getting ready to head out and pick some quests to complete. After eating breakfast, he cleaned his dishes and started to head toward the door. Before he got to it, the door opened. Revealing IF, she walked in with a sigh and slight flustered look as she looked from side to side for a moment.

"Hey IF, what's up?" Desmond asked, as he waved to her.

"Good morning. W-Where are you going?" she responded.

"I was going to head to the guild and pick up a few quests for the day." He answered.

IF's eyes started to dart around, her face glowing evermore red. "H-H-How a-about we g-go on a d-date instead."

He smiled and bent down slightly, bring their faces closer together. "That sounds wonderful, Iffy~. But there's no need to be so flustered over this, we _are_ together now." He finished saying as he poked her nose.

She moved a hand to cover her nose as she turned her head to the side. "I-I know. It's just, other people seeing us… makes me a little nervous." She responded.

He pulled her into a hug. "It doesn't matter who sees us. The only people who matter, are our friends. And they are fine with our relationship, including Neptune, who is kinda with us as well. So, don't be too surprised if she wants to tag along if she sees us. Let's go." He gave her a small kiss and she nodded as the two left the building.

The two were walking through the streets of Planeptune, side by side. After a few minutes Desmond asked a question. "Did you have a plan in mind?"

Her face reddened "U-Umm… N-No, not really. I was just wanting to spend some time with you." Her body slightly shrunk as she spoke, not looking at him.

He smiled and wrapped an arm around her "Aww, I always enjoy spending time with my Iffy~" he teased as she started to attempt to hit him. He let go of her before speaking again "We could just walk around until we get hungry."

"That sounds good." She replied with a smile and he grabbed her hand as they continued to walk.

As they walked around the streets, they ended up in one of the parks around the city. After walking and taking in the scenery for a few minutes, they sat at a bench. IF leaned on Desmond as they sat, enjoying the beautiful morning. "It's amazing how the cities can be at such peace, as chaos looms in the graveyard." Desmond stated, his head slightly aimed upward.

"Yeah, but we've got Nep and the others back now. So, we'll be fine." She responded, not moving from her spot.

"I know. I'm just wondering what they're next move is." He closed his eyes as he spoke, trying to come up with something.

IF let out a small sigh of discontent, as she lightly elbowed him in the ribs "Hey, you're here with me on a date. Not a mission."

He moved his body slightly from the boney elbow to the side, before quickly settling back down. He then moved his arm around her, pulling her a little closer "Of course sweetie, I didn't forget. But we still do need to prepare for the threat that still is present in Gamindustri." She felt her face heat up slightly at the nickname.

A while later, the two left the park and arrived at a phone store. IF's love of phones could never be quenched. She walked around the store checking the new models and their prices. After about forty-five minutes of looking, she decided not to buy anything just yet, and the two left. They finally got hungry during the time they were out and walked into a nearby diner. After being seated, a waitress asked what they wanted to drink, they both got water. After a few minutes of looking over the menu they ordered. IF got a club sandwich, while Desmond got a bacon hamburger. "Do you know what the others are doing?" Desmond asked.

"Not exactly, but it is supposed to be everyone's day off, even though you were going to do quests before I got to the basilicom. I know that Gear went with the other Candidates, I think to some arcade in Lastation. Compa is helping around at the hospital. Nep is probably still sleeping, knowing her. And the other CPU's I believe are probably still trying to recover, but I'm not as sure about them." She answered.

"Of course, I'd try and do some more quests, I wasn't able to do jack for a while. It was frustrating not being able to help you girls out." He stated.

"What did you think we'd do? You hurt yourself then ran out and got yourself cut, after being told to stay. We had to keep an eye on you to make sure you didn't do something stupid again. But I guess, it doesn't matter now. Your safe, that's all that matters." She responded.

He smiled at her words, reaching across the table he placed a hand on her head. "I'll try not to make any more stupid decisions, but no promises. They usually come in the spur of the moment." Their food arrived a couple of moments later.

After they ate, they left the restaurant and started walking back to the basilicom. On the way Desmond asked a question "Hey, wanna go to the arcade? There's one right over there." He pointed in the direction of the building.

IF thought about it for a moment before answering "Sure, that sounds fun." After walking into the place, they spent about 2 hours playing games. Their competitive nature wouldn't allow either one to leave a loss alone, as they continued to challenge each other. Desmond had the advantage in shooter and fighting games, IF had the advantage in rhythm based games, and they were about even in racing games.

The two just finished a game on the Maryo kart game, that Desmond just barely won. After standing up, Desmond moved back a foot to avoid a flying purple object. He caught her before she could hit any of the machines, leaving him sweat dropping and the purple haired girl just smiled brightly. IF sighed once she saw what happened. "Aww, man! I almost gotcha!" Neptune said.

"If you're going to sneak up on someone don't come from their side, I could see you in my peripheral vison. What brings you here Neptune?" Desmond asked as he placed her back down.

"I like coming to this arcade, the real question is what are the two of you doing?" Neptune questioned as she leaned forward.

"W-Were out on a d-date Nep." IF answered as she crossed her arms and looked at the purple haired girl. A little blush formed on her face.

"Hmmm… Okay, you don't have to beg. I'll go on a date with you two." She held one hand forward with a thumbs up and the other at her hip, with a large grin.

"H-Hey, I never asked you to join us." IF fired back.

Desmond walked over to IF and pulled her into a one arm hug. "I said don't be surprised if she wanted to join with. And anyway, it'd be even more fun with Neptune around." Neptune smiled as she heard her name.

"I-I know, I was just hoping to get you to myself today…" IF said quietly to him.

"And you have for a good part of the day. It's time for Neptune to join us and have some fun too." He responded.

"Okay, fine." She stated in a bit of a pout, but quickly changed to a smile "Let's get back to playing then."

"Nep yeah!" Neptune shouted as she took the lead and jumped onto one of the gaming cabinets.

IF ran to catch up "Don't think I'm gonna lose to you Nep."

Desmond thought 'Man, I have two wonderful girlfriends, don't I' as he walked toward the two smiling.

* * *

A few hours later the trio left, and made their way back to the basilicom for dinner. As they arrived at the building they went into the elevator and went to the living quarters. As the stood outside the door, IF stopped Desmond from opening the door. She looked downward as she spoke "T-Thanks for today, I really enjoyed it." After saying that she moved forward and kissed him. After pulling back, her face was bright red, but all she could do was smile.

"Hey! Hey! I had fun too, so I wanna kiss!" Neptune exclaimed as she flailed her arms around, a slight pout on her face. Desmond closed the distance and kissed Neptune. After pulling away Neptune held a hand to her lips, before she started to sway side to side as she hummed. "Oh! Before I forget." She quickly attacked IF's check with a peck, causing IF to recoil back and into a blush. "Thanks for letting me come along Iffy." She finished saying innocently, as she went back to her swaying.

"D-D-Don't j-just do t-that Nep!" IF stuttered as she shouted.

"I'm happy to see you two get along so well." Desmond teased "And I'm glad we could go out. We should finish off ASIC as soon as possible and go on another date." Desmond stated as he started to open the door.

"Agreed!" The girls said simultaneously.

After walking in Histoire and Compa welcomed them. Compa had already started on dinner when they arrived. A short time later, Nepgear and the other Candidates walked into the building.

The rest of the night went by without much happing, they just enjoyed the rest of their day off quietly. Either with talking, playing games, watching tv, etc.

* * *

 **And that wraps up another chapter. I hope you all have been enjoying this story, I've had quite a bit of fun writing it. I'm always looking for new moves/ abilites for Desmond so there is always something new, or at least to some degree. So any suggestions are welcome. I like when a character can use more than just a hand full of moves, to me it makes it feel more fun. Anyway, leave a review and tell me what you think. And as always have a good day.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Welcome back to HDN: A New World.**

 **ARSLOTHES: The magic erebea does look like quite an interesting ability. I might use it. Thanks for the suggestion.**

 **Blue555Nexus: I really like the idea of the two type of HDD modes. I started to shape things toward that way. Only Red Heart used in this chapter. Thanks for the idea and the support.**

 **RedBurningDragon: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. I do understand what you mean by too many moves, I just get annoyed at times when a major character just uses one or two moves through an entire show. I haven't seen anything from the tales series, so I guess I might as well check some of it out.  
**

 **Thanks for the reviews everyone.**

 **Now to the chapter.**

* * *

About a week and a half later, the party met up in Lastation for a quick met up. "It's been a while since we shut down that factory's operations, but…" Noire started once everyone showed up.

"Life has become such a snooze… Isn't there anything fun to do?" Neptune questioned.

"What? I'm I not fun to hang around?" Desmond asked in mock offense.

"You know I didn't mean you, Dez." She responded.

"I'm so bored, I'd actually rather play the waiting game. I wanna go out and see someplace cool…" Ram exclaimed.

"I agree. This is a waste of time." Blanc weighed in.

"Unproductive, indeed. If we've no immediate plans, perhaps we should return to our homes?" Vert suggested, before a ringing was heard.

"Huh? The N-Gear… oh… It's not mine…" Nepgear said while looking at her device.

"That would be mine. Ah, Chika is calling me. Hello, Chika. How are you?" Vert stated while pulling out the device and turning it on speaker, so everyone could hear.

"Darling!? We have a problem! Could you please return to Leanbox immediately?" Chika said in haste.

"Immediately? My, whatever could be so urgent?" Vert asked.

"Rioters are trashing the city! We're trying to put a stop to their antics, but we're vastly outnumbered." Chika answered.

"Oh, no! Not the city…!" 5pb. shouted in worry.

"Understood. I will head your way. Chika, make sure not to do anything rash until I've returned." Vert commanded.

"Of course." Chika replied.

"You all heard the situation. I must return to Leanbox." Vert stated.

"We'll go with you." Nepgear spoke up.

"Darn tootin'! And I'm not the type to take no for an answer, you dig?" Neptune added on.

"Yeah, I've been helping your city for the last three years. Now isn't the time to stop." Desmond stated.

"I would be very grateful. Then, please, lend me a hand." Vert responded.

"We sure will!" Nepgear said, as the party left for Leanbox.

* * *

The group arrived in the city, a vast mulititude of buildings were damaged in one way or another. 5pb. was the first to speak "This is terrible… Everything is in shambles…"

"How dare they treat my precious nation in such a manner…!" Vert stated in an angered tone.

"Check it out. Someone's flipping tables over that-a-way! Hey buddy, you better stop that right now!" Neptune shouted, while pointing at the culprit.

They could see Underling commanding a group of kids with weapons, down the street. They were close enough to hear her shout commands "Destroy everything! Our only order was to make this an unforgettable act of carnage, so do your worst!" The kids shouted back in agreement.

"This is getting very stale, nyu." Broccoli stated, unimpressed by the same villain back again.

"It's like trying to keep track of how many patients sued the hospital because of Compa. Can't do it." IF commented.

"Yeah… It might not be the nicest thing to compare it to. But, Compa does have a track record for having that happen." Desmond added with a sweat drop.

"Umm… I kept track until I ran out of fingers." Compa confirmed.

"Oh, the broad brigade is here. Quicker than I expected, actually." Underling stated, giving a smug look.

"Huh? Not gonna get all surprised and be like "oh snap, not these idiots again"?" Red asked.

"I'm not gonna say the same damn reaction line each and every time!" Underling shot back. "I've been waiting for you idiots."

"Why would you be doing that?" Nepgear questioned.

"Hmm, I wonder. I guess you'll have to beat me up if you want me to…" Underling spoke, before being interrupted by a fist to the face from Desmond. Causing her to fly back several feet.

The man let out a contented sigh "I've been wanting to do that since I saw your, very punchable, face."

Underling shook her head as she stood back up "Whoooooa! Hang on, hang on. At least let the game load up a boss battle or something!" she shouted.

"Nah, that takes too long." Noire denied.

"The result should be obvious at this point. Why waste the player's time?" Blanc commented.

"Our stats vastly exceed your own. The game can no longer label you as even a low-tier mid-boss." Vert added.

"At best you'd be considered as cannon fodder." Desmond jumped into the insulting.

"Urrgh! Stop breaking the fourth wall!" Underling shouted.

"Shut up already. A win's a win. We'll have that information now." Uni commanded.

"Tch… Well, this should be enough bought time. Let's ditch this joint, fellas!" Underling yelled as she and her little group of destructive children ran off.

"Wait! You never told us what you were planning by doing this…" 5pb. shouted.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Desmond commented.

Vert's N-Gear rung off again. "My, Chika is calling me again? How clingy. Hello, what is it? Things have settled down here."

"My darling Vert, I'm so very sorry to say, but… I completely fell for the enemy's feint!" Chika responded.

"What do you mean? Wait, are you saying this entire riot was mearely…?" Vert started.

Desmond put a finger on his nose while pointing at Vert, as to say "you got it."

"A ruse, yes. While you were all busy there, Planeptune has been felled by ASIC!" Chika explained.

"Ok, we'll come in to come up with a plan." Vert stated before hanging up the device.

Desmond growled as he walked toward a light pole, footprints of fire behind him. Forming hand blades with both arms, he went to town hacking up the pole. "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! They freaking pulled a fast one on us! And I should've have seen it coming! Dammit!" His breath a little heavier, as he stood and looked at the mess of metal on the ground.

"D-Desmond, don't take blame for it all. None of us realized what was going on. Now, let's go to the basilicom and get the rest of the info from Chika." Vert stated, as she placed a hand on his shoulder. He pulled away the hand blades and turned to look at her.

"Yeah, Dez. It's my nation and you don't see me flipping out over it." Neptune stated as she jumped in front of the young man.

He let out a sigh, calming himself down. "That's just your nature Neptune. It's hard to get you even half as angry as I can get. So, you don't tend to worry about things as much. I'm sure you wouldn't mind too much, as long as the people weren't hurt." He then placed a hand on her head and smiled "But I wouldn't have you any other way. It's one of the reasons why you're so fun to be around with." he took a quick sigh "I suppose you two are right. Let's get to the basilicom and get the rest of the information from Chika."

Neptune jumped on him in the form of a hug. "Thanks for the praise, Dez." She had a bright smile on her face. He bent down and kissed her check, Neptune's face reddened slightly. The party left for the basilicom moments later.

* * *

After arriving at the basilicom Chika spoke when she saw them "There you are."

"Miss Chika! Did Planeptune really fall into ASIC's hands?" Nepgear asked.

"What about Histy? Is she still kicking?" Neptune added.

"Let me explain first. The riot in Leanbox was, as we now know, a decoy." Chika started. "It was meant to pull you all out of Planeptune, and at that, it succeeded."

"Then they moved into Planeptune while we were away and snagged an easy win. That about right?" IF questioned.

"We've been had, nyu" Broccoli commented.

"I cannot apologize enough. I should not have called you here without analyzing the situation…" Chika stated dejectedly.

"Worry not. Anyone whose nation looked to be in jeopardy would have reacted the exact same way." Vert responded.

"My darling Vert… No, please, do not console me. This is clearly my fault." Chika said.

"Miss Chika…" 5pb. said in a worried tone.

"Vert's not wrong Chika. None of us noticed. If anyone should've noticed something sketchy about the situation, it should've been me. Having fought them for the last few years, I've had some experience with their tactics. So, do not blame yourself." Desmond stated.

"Ehh, nobody cares who's at fault. I just wanna know if Histy's okay!" Neptune interjected.

"ASIC called me while you all were en route." Chika responded. "They demanded the CPU Candidates go to Gathering Castle alone if we want to see Histoire again."

"What a textbook move. They may as well have bolded, underlined, and italicized "hey, it's a trap!"" Noire pointed out.

"It's not cool of them to use a hostage against us again!" Red shouted.

"It doesn't matter. I'll go." Nepgear stated calmly.

"What!?" Desmond yelled.

"Do I literally need to bold, underline, and italicize it for you?" Noire asked.

"It's too dangerous. We still have no idea what their end game could be." Blanc added.

"But Histy's in serious trouble! Someone needs to help her!" Nepgear exclaimed.

"IT IS A TRAP. Who says they'll let Histoire go even if you do show up!?" Noire disputed.

"But if nobody goes, then it's for sure that we won't save her!" Nepgear argued.

"Like I've been trying to say, we need to draw up a plan, and—" Noire started.

"Oh, I can't stand it anymore. I'm going with you. You're too stubborn to change your mind…" Uni interrupted.

"Uni!" Noire shouted.

"Are you sure?" Nepgear questioned.

"Yeah, I guess. They did ask for all of us CPU Candidates, right?" Uni responded.

"I wanna go, too…" Rom stated.

"Yeah, me too. But you totally owe me and Rom something awesome for helping you out!" Ram added.

"Rom… Ram…" Nepgear said with a happy tone.

"Heavens, it appears that someone's undying optimism has rubbed off on her little friends." Vert stated.

"This is your sister's fault. What're you gonna do about this?" Noire questioned.

"I'll kill you if my sisters get even a scratch." Blanc said in a firm tone.

"Huh!? Whoa, don't dump the responsibility on little ol' me!" Neptune said backing away from the three CPUs.

"I'm sorry. Due to my oversight, this blunder is only growing in severity…" Chika stated.

"Don't worry, we'll be just fine. We're going to come back with Histoire, safe and sound!" Nepgear responded.

The Candidates gathered their things together as they got ready to leave. IF looked around and noticed Desmond wasn't there, and the door was left open. She went out to see if she could find him. A few seconds later, she saw him standing outside, leaning against the wall "Hey, what're you doing?"

He opened an eye to look at her, then moved away from the wall. "Sorry, had to get out of there. I didn't want to start yelling at Gear and the others. So, I came out for some fresh air."

"I see. I understand that it must be hard for you to see them go off into what appears to be a trap. But Gear is right about getting Histoire back."

"I know, but most of me doesn't care. The thought of them going into a trap and getting hurt pisses me off to no end! And on top of that they use Historire as a hostage!" He shouted as he hit the wall with a fist, his back turned to IF.

She walked up and wrapped her arms around him. "Just breathe. I'm here… None of us want to send them off into a trap, but they asked to go." He turned around to hug her back. "Let's just think through this and figure out a plan. Until then, we'll have to let the Candidates go." She could feel the anger leave his body as he relaxed.

"You've always found a way to calm me down." He chuckled a little as he kissed her "Thanks, I needed to hear that. I might not like it, but the fact that they are wanting to do this shows how much more confident they have become in themselves. I should be happy about that. It's just… I've already lost one family, I don't need to lose anyone else. So in light of that, let's do all we can for them and get Histoire back. We should get back in there and start getting a plan together." The two walked back into the building, and met back up with the rest of the group.

* * *

Everyone except the Candidates, left after quickly forming a plan to help the younger CPUs. They moved into LAN Castle, after the Candidates. Most of the monsters were slain by the Candidates, so they had mostly free reign in the dungeon. They stopped at a partially opened door. Inside they could hear voices, they could hear the Candidates, two ASIC members, and Histoire. They party was waiting for an opportune moment to rescue Histoire, so neither ASIC member would hurt her. They could also hear screams, coming from Nepgear and Uni, who were being attacked by Underling.

Desmond paced back and forth as Blanc and Noire watched for an opening, the others stood in wait. "Why are we waiting so damn long." Desmond growled quietly. "There are more of us. I say we just go in there and blitz them."

"We're not changing the plan now, just wait. We don't want any harm to come to Histoire, you know that." IF responded.

The group waited longer for their opening. What they heard from inside pissed off Desmond immensely. Sparks were flying around him. He looked to be in a focused rage as he kept his eyes shut as he paced around in anger. Suddenly the air pressure changed in the room, the group looked to the young man, as they felt the change come from that part of the room. They saw a light blue aura around him. Sparks of lightning flowing on and around him, even his eyes glowed slightly. "I'm done waiting." Desmond spoke calmly. Before any of them could say anything, he was gone.

"Crap, where did he go?" Noire questioned.

"Well you should know if you were paying attention to his lines." Neptune stated as she pointed toward the room.

"I suggest we head in there as well now." Vert said.

"I agree." Blanc added before the party moved in, but not before Desmond could do some damage.

Once Desmond left the others, he moved into the room. Faster than he had ever moved before without fully becoming lightning itself. But this was different, he didn't know what or how. He just felt the power welling up. As soon as he could see where everyone was, he fired a continues bolt of electricity onto the latch that held Histoire down, melting it and releasing the tome. He then moved over to Trick landing a few strikes, each one left electricity flying all around the hit. The attacks caused the CFW to move back several feet.

Desmond then ran to where Underling was, she still had not registered what had happened yet. He stuck her in the gut causing her to fall after hitting the wall about ten feet back. Desmond then grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall. She screamed from the pain, she finally was able to see who did this to her. And when she did not like what she saw. "The hell!" She saw nothing but anger in his eyes.

"Now what was it you said… Oh, yes that's it." He moved close to her ear ""Let me see those tears" that's what you said wasn't it. So, I think it's time you show them." Before Underling could blink He hit her in both arms and legs, then another hard knee in the gut. She cried out, her eyes forced close. When she opened them, she saw a demented smile across his face, strength left her as fear took over. Every fiber of her being was telling her to run, get as far away as possible. But she knew she couldn't. "There are those tears I asked for." To her even his words felt like they kill. His smile was gone, and his face looked uninterested "Get out of my sight." He said as he lifted her up and tossed her aside, to where Trick was. She coughed trying to get her breath back, struggling to stand.

The rest of the group entered, Histoire was near The Candidates. She and the twins ran to Nepgear and Uni's side. Neptune greeted the tome. "Howdy, Histy! You all right? They didn't crumple your bookmark or whatever, did they?"

"No, I am perfectly fine." She replied.

"Neptune… And everyone… Why did you all come here?" Nepgear asked.

"We knew it was a trap, so there's no way we'd let you come here alone, We were just waiting for our chance." Noire answered.

"But Desmond ran in before we could find a quiet entrance." Blanc stated.

"No need to hold it in anymore! Pay 'em back tenfold!" Red shouted.

Desmond chuckled deviously "That's right little Red. Let's… make them suffer." he finished in a chilling tone.

"Yeah. I'm going to let them feel just how great if felt for me…" Uni commented.

"I'm actually very angry this time." Nepgear added.

Underling finally standing back up, freaking out at the situation "Sh-Shit… What're we gonna do? Boss, they look crazy pissed off!"

"Remain calm, fool! I let myself revel in their company too much. I don't plan to die in battle today!" Trick shouted.

"Y'know what? I've wanted to bust your stupid skull open ever since we met! The brainwashing, that stink… That totally gross slobber…" Ram yelled.

"Bullying Miss Nepgear and Miss Uni… You won't get away with this!" Rom exclaimed in anger.

"Great! Great! Now let's put an end to this sorry excuse of a creature!" Desmond shouted.

The ranged members of the party launched attacks at the CFW, Trick blocked several of the projectiles with his tongue. After Trick moved it down, the melee fighters closed in. Several strikes were thrown, the CFW blocked a few. The rest of the attacks hit, causing the CFW to move back. Trick threw out his tongue for a counterattack but was quickly pushed to the ground as a metal pole speared it, breaking the ground locking it in place. Shortly after a large bolt of lightning hit the pole and spread across Trick's body. Desmond then moved in front of the large creature in a flash and delivered a massive kick to the side of Trick's head.

The CFW tried to grab the young man but before he could reach out Desmond disappeared, and appeared behind Trick. Desmond hit the CFW with a multitude of punches. The ranged members sent out another barrage of shots, this time all hit. The CFW grunted in pain. "It's time I kill you." Trick couldn't follow the young man's movement as Desmond ran up to the creature, slicing off both of Trick's arms with his arm blade. He then poured more power into the blade, extending the size of it. And cut the pole from the CFW's tongue and threw it into the CFW's chest, right before slicing Trick in half.

Knowing he was about to die, Trick spoke his final words. "I have no regrets for the life I have lived!" He then exploded.

"Good riddance, you worthless piece of shit." Desmond spat at the remains of Trick.

Desmond's aura went away, as a sudden heaviness filled his body. Causing him to stumble, IF moved over to him. She placed a hand on him "You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah… I just need to sit down for a bit." He responded as he placed an arm around IF. She flicked him in the forehead "H-Hey!"

"That's what you get for being so reckless! You could've got Histoire hurt! You were supposed to stick with the plan." She stated.

"I couldn't hold back anymore, those two needed to be put in their place. And that power… I knew that I could solve the situation easily." He said.

IF sighed "Even though you might be reckless, at least you produce results. Anyway, what the heck was that?"

"I can't be completely sure. It felt like an extreme speed boost. I was easily able to match my top speeds without trying. At times, I didn't even have to think about what I was doing, my own instincts took over as I moved." Desmond answered. The two walked over to the rest of the group.

"And, done. That was one too many pervs than this world needed." Uni commented.

"That was soooo easy. We shoulda done that way earlier!" Ram shouted.

"Hehehe… I did my bestest…" Rom added.

"Wait, where'd Underling go?" Red questioned.

"I don't see her anymore… Maybe she ran away during that last fight?" Compa said.

"You could set a clock to that trait of hers, nyu." Broccoli added.

"I am so sorry for the trouble I have caused." Histoire stated.

"Don't sweat it, Captivisty. Let's just blame the baddies." Neptune responded.

"And we took their bait, so there's nothing to apologize for." Blanc agreed.

"That solves one crisis, but we still have a major one to deal with." IF stated.

"Yes… Planeptune is still under ASIC's control…" 5pb. said looking a bit worried.

"They won't get away with putting their grimy hands into my nation's cookie jar! Let's get my home back!" Neptune exclaimed.

"Normally, I would leave this to you, but I suppose this is an exception, since it involved me indirectly." Vert stated.

"Without support from the other nations, I fear this would be a nigh impossible task. Please, help us." Histoire commented.

"Let's actually think of a plan for this one, though. I'll get all the Oracles together." Noire responded. The party then left the dungeon, and to Lastation's basilicom where the rest of the Oracles were being gathered.

* * *

After the party made it to the basilicom, the Oracles were already in place. Histoire spoke "Thank you all for gathering once more. The reason why we are here together is…"

"Skip the formalities, if you would. We're well aware of why we're here." Kei interrupted.

"You are right. Then, I would like to ask for your help in releasing Planeptune from ASIC control." Histoire stated.

"Leanbox's forces are ready to assist. After all, this all stemmed from my poor judgment." Chika responded.

"It's hardly picturesque to have a nation next to ours under the control of something like ASIC." Kei mentioned.

"I have no qualms with providing support. Do you have a detailed plan we can go over?" Mina asked.

"Time is too short to draw up any kind of intricate plan. I suggest the simple method of using force." Histoire answered.

"I like that plan." Desmond said laying on a couch in the room.

"That's definitely simple, nyu." Broccoli added.

"It may cause some casualties on our end, but there is scarcely a more effective approach." Vert reasoned.

"Okay, then let's mamma jamma our way over there now! Time is shorter than our skirts, ladies! And Dez!" Neptune shouted.

"Just a moment. This plan has one problem to iron out. Even if we use greater numbers, it will have little effect on the enemy leader. That said, I wish for the CPUs to act separately, seek out, and eliminate the enemy leader." Histoire stated.

"Whoa, so you think someone really though is hiding in there?" Red asked.

"Who's the leader?" Uni questioned.

"I believe her name was CFW Magic." Histoire answered.

"Magic!" Nepgear shouted.

"That bitch." Blanc said in her monotone voice, with a little anger mixed in.

"Now we're talking. That woman has been at the top of my hit list ever since we got back." Noire commented.

"Very well. We will commence the operation tomorrow morning. Please rest until then." Histoire stated.

"We'll fight Magic again…" Nepgear said as she poked her fingers together in nervously.

"Why're you making such a nervous face, Nep Jr.?" Neptune asked.

"Huh? U-Um, no reason… I'm perfectly fine…" Nepgear tried to dodge the conversation.

"I dunno. I read faces better than words, and yours is like, "AHHH!" Don't worry. You're stupid tough." Neptune stated.

"I wonder about that…" Nepgear muttered.

"And hey, you got me as support. Plus my whole CPU posse, and your little sister posse! And Dez! We're gonna win, okay? Trust your adorable, eternally young older sister." Neptune added.

"She's right Gear. You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. And that we'll be there too. Oh, and that she's adorable." Desmond spoke leaning up on the couch.

Neptune giggled a little "Thanks Dez." She blew a kiss toward him.

"Okay… Thanks, Neptune, Desmond." Nepgear said, looking more confident.

Desmond raised up an arm "Now, if one of you girls would kindly help me to a room, I would be grateful. My legs still don't want to work like they should." IF started to walk over to him before getting cut off by Noire.

"I'll help him IF, it's my basilicom after all." Noire stated, holding a hand out.

"A-Are you sure? I mean if you'd tell me the room you want him to be in, I can take him there." IF said.

"Yes, even if he can be a bit annoying at times. I think I can manage. I swear Neptune rubbed to much of her unruly nature on him at times, but at least he can be more serious. You've had a long day as well, so go rest. I've gotta take care of some paperwork, so I'll be up for a bit longer anyway." Noire reiterated.

"Okay, if you say so Noire. Goodnight." IF said as she walked off with a wave.

"Night." Noire responded also waving. She then turned her attention to the young man, grabbing his outstretched arm, pulling him to his feet.

"Thanks for the help Noire. I didn't really want to sleep on the couch if I didn't have to." He stated as the two walked down a hallway.

"It's no problem. You helped Uni while I was gone, so it's the least I could do." She responded.

"You don't need to do anything for me. She's stronger than you might think, but she does have a long way to go." He stated, looking forward as they walked.

"What do you mean by that?" Noire asked, giving him a puzzling look.

"It seems that she tries to be like you… as much as possible in fact. Everything she would do would be to make you proud, to be up to your grade…" He started

"R-Really?" the ravenette CPU was caught off guard.

"She wanted for you to praise her for her hard work, or at least that was part of the vibe I got. She even came to me because she felt some sort of familiarity with our strength. I don't know what exactly she thought was similar, but she wanted to know what secret there was to become stronger." He continued.

"What'd you tell her?" She asked, giving her full attention.

"I told her she was wrong, that she shouldn't strive to be like you…" he answered.

"W-What? Why did you…" Noire started before getting interrupted.

"I told her that she should try to be better than you." Noire stopped speaking as he continued. "I said that trying to be just like you would only stunt her ability for growth. She puts herself down at times for not being as strong as you, but she needs for that level to be a bare minimum. Not the full extent of her abilities. You should have the person under you to be able to work at your level or higher, to help the with the load you know. So, I think that you should do all that you can to help her achieve such levels. She's a good kid, with a good head on her. You've done well as her sister. She just needs a bit more guidance and confidence."

Noire just looked at with a bit of shock and a small blush due to the praise he gave her. "W-When did you become so attentive? I thought you were more goofy and comical, until it came to the fighting."

They reached the room that he would stay in, she opened the door and they walked in "I always have. It's just not a surface level type of trait that most people notice, I keep it a bit more hidden. It can help if people don't think you're paying attention to them on stealth missions, ya know. And I guess Neptune has rubbed off a bit on me." He stated as they sat on the bed.

"Y-You heard me huh?" She asked sheepishly, and he nodded before continuing.

"I wasen't always this… happy go lucky before coming here. I mean sure I had fun, but after the accident, I didn't talk too much of anyone before coming here. Of course, my closest friends tried to pull me out my dark pit. But it would have been hard for them, only seeing me during school since I didn't want to see anyone. So, when I arrived here. I couldn't just go into a corner by myself and sulk. Because, well… I didn't know where the hell I was. And of course, I had Neptune pulling me left and right to places. After about a week or two I realized just how much I enjoyed just being around her. She was able to rip me out of that dark past, making me forget about it, at least most of the time. But it wasn't just her, all of you have helped me. In fact, just being in Gamindustri I think helped, being away from my old life."

"I guess having you be more like Neptune is better than seeing you depressed for hours on end." She commented.

"It's nice to see you be less tsun around me." Desmond joked as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"H-Hey! I am not a tsundere!" she barked at him, batting away his hand. A small blush on her face, she coughed and started on what she originally wanted to talk with him about. "Have you used your HDD much after gaining it?"

"Not really, why?" he asked.

"I'm just wondering of any personality change while you're in it? Like how Neptune acts more mature, Blanc can't control her anger." She responded.

"Hmm… I guess a little. Hard to tell, I haven't been in it much. But I felt calm for the most part, other than when I saw Magic. I could feel a deep rage burning in me, knowing that she captured all of you. And then set this world into a tailspin, letting her army kill innocent lives!" He ranted as his anger started to seep out, Noire could see his eyes turned to power buttons. "That woman deserves to be torn to shreds, for what she's done!" She could feel his HDD about to initiate. Not wanting to deal with a pissed off Red Heart, decided to snap him out of it by shaking him.

"H-Hey! Calm down! She's not here, no need to get angry right now. You can knock her down a few pegs tomorrow, okay." She exclaimed while shaking his shoulders, until he turned to look at her face. Seeing that he wasn't going to transform, she let out a sigh. "I just hope you can keep yourself under control in you HDD."

"I know I can, even if I can get angered easily in it. I felt a peace come over me seeing you all. So, at worst I'll just be beating the crap out of the enemy. It's nice to know that you worry about me." He said as he smiled at her.

"N-No I don't! It'd just be bothersome to have to deal with a CPU that can't control their abilities." Noire said as she turned away with a blush.

"Haha, told ya you're a tsun. Neptune and I are not wrong." He teased.

"You…! Don't…! I…! Ugh…" She stammered as she stood and moved to the door "Night!" she slammed the door as she left.

"Night. ~" He said as he waved "Neptune's right. It's easy to get a rise out of her. Anyway, I should get to sleep." He laid on the bed and closed his eyes.

* * *

Desmond's eyes opened. As he peered around the room he noticed something was wrong. He was in Planeptune's basilicom instead of Lastation's. He stood and walked out of the room to notice everyone gathered, talking about something. Looks of anger and worry we on the faces of many in the room, he was starting to become concerned. Before he could make out what they were saying, or even get close. The other CPUs left, leaving even more questions. "What happened? What's going on?" he asked, but never got a response. He walked even closer to Neptune and reached for her shoulder "Hey! Neptune, what the hell is…" as his hand reached her it didn't make contact. Instead just went through, like if she was a hologram. "What?" he questioned as he made rapid movements with his head eyeing different parts of the room trying to find an answer. He then saw a bright light, and couldn't see for a few moments.

Once he could see again, he was in Lastation's streets. He looked around, trying to gage what was happening. All that he could imagine is that it was either a dream or a vision, but couldn't rule out something else currently unknown. As he looked he could see the girls, and that Nepgear and Noire were rolling on the ground. Try to see what was going on, he ran to them. He was close enough to hear what was being said, he could hear Noire say "Don't… you dare let it go…" right before a sword pierced her body, blood poured from the wound. Desmond stopped in his tracks, his eyes went wide. He couldn't move, couldn't do anything. After a few moments Noire's body disappeared.

He couldn't believe what just happened, there was no way that could happen. He was so caught up trying to gather himself back together, that he could only hear snippets of what the others were saying. He heard Uni tell Nepgear "It's my turn" and "Do it, Npegear. Kill me. Do it with your own two hands." A few moments passed before those words registered with him. When he looked up he saw the sword in Nepgear's hands, as it was driven through Uni. Blood was thrown to the ground as he rushed over, trying to grab the girl but his hands were unable to touch a thing. Uni's body disappeared, and Desmond dropped to a knee as he stared at the ground, where the blood laid upon. All that he could hear was Nepgear sobbing, and he wondered 'Why? What is the reason for this?' the bright light returned, all that was present in the void was the crying of Nepgear.

The light was once again gone, he was in Lowee. He looked around and saw the girls gathered in a clearing. This time as he moved, his body felt heavy. He didn't want to think of what might happen. He once again saw the sword. This time in the hands of Neptune, pointed at Blanc. He forced himself to move, to try to somehow stop what he knew was about to happen. But he was too late, Neptune pushed the blade through the CPU of white, using her other arm to hold Blanc in a hug. Blood trickled down to the snowed-on walkway and onto Neptune, as the stood. Blanc disappeared faster than the other two, Neptune handed the weapon back to Nepgear. Tears could be seen building to the sides of Neptune's eyes. Desmond stood, looking at the blood-soaked ground and clothing, as she looked to the ground. A few moments later, Neptune looked back upward, and Desmond noticed the movement. Tracing her eyes to where the Candidates were, his heart sank. 'No' one word filled his mind 'No' 'No' 'No' he moved closer to them. The twins were hugging each other, Nepgear slowly moving the sword into a striking position. 'No!' No!' he quickly stood between the two, trying to protect the twins, unsure if it would work. The sound of flesh being torn open was heard. Desmond opened his eyes, he saw the sword through him, but not touching him. A loud cry was heard, then another. He could see the tears rolling down Nepgear's face. He turned around, instantly regretting the decision. The sword was driven into the twins, blood covering their coats and falling onto the snow below them. The two disappeared. He trembled as he felt weak, he tried to do something, but he knew he couldn't. He couldn't help at all, whatever this was, it didn't allow him to interfere. But why, why would he be forced to watch all his closest friends die, one by one. If someone was trying to make him go mad, he was starting to think it was working. His vison once again taken by the light.

The light faded, he was in Leanbox. His body was heavy, he could barely walk. His eyes dull, knowing why he would be there. Again, he could see the girls and Vert in a clearing. The girls retreated as vert stood in her HDD. He let out a heavy sigh, 'Maybe, it'll finally end' he thought. Until a scream was heard, and saw Vert on the ground. Underling gloating over beating down a defenseless CPU. Desmond blew up into a fury, dashing to Underling, creating his hand blades and slashing at her over and over. He didn't care about anything else at the moment, that he couldn't touch her, that he didn't pay attention to the voices talking, about the fact that none of this was real. He just kept attacking. He stopped when he heard once again, that sword cut through someone. Desmond saw the blade through Underling's chest. He started to laugh a little, before growing into a full blown crazed laughter. Nothing but hatred for the member of ASIC as he yelled "Die! Die! Die! Die! DIE! I should have killed you back in Lowee! DIE!" He let out torrents of flame at both Underling and to the surrounding vicinity. The flames couldn't hit a thing, but he didn't care. As he watched Underling's body finally go limp he stopped and was breathing heavily. When he finally turned to where everyone else was at, he saw the sword already through Vert as Neptune held it. Tears were falling onto Vert as Neptune was kneeling over her. Vert disappeared, leaving blood where her body laid. Pain, anger, sorrow, rage, and confusion flowed through Desmond, not knowing what to do as he succumbed to the light.

The light vanished, revealing a forest. A forest he recognized to be one in Planeptune. He wondered why, they had taken out the other CPUs already. Why was he still in this dream state? He moved through the forest when he heard rustling and voices, he moved closer. He saw Neptune and Nepgear walking around before they stopped. The two stood for a few moments before he could see Nepgear reel back slightly. He wondered what was said, he moved closer. The sword was drawn once again. That sword, if he saw it ever again, real or fake, it'd be too soon. 'Why do they have it out here?' he wondered moving closer, before realizing what was about to happen. The breath left his body, his knees locked up. He couldn't move, why? Why are they doing this? From what he gathered it was to defeat the Deity of Sin. But… why Neptune? Hasn't this nightmare done enough already? But he was unable to do anything as the sword moved closer to the CPU. As the sword was driven through her blood flowed onto the sword and the grass. Neptune cupped her younger sister's face before wrapping her arms around Nepgear. Tears could be seen streaming down both girl's faces. Desmond tried all he could to do something, anything, even if were to just close his eyes to not see what was going on but couldn't. Desmond's eyes looked dead "N…N…Nep-Neptune…" on his knees, he finally was able to pull away his eyes after seeing her body disappear, he looked down at the grass flowing in the wind. He could feel tears fall from his own face. "Neptune!" he shouted. He was done with this place, with this nightmare. Fire blew all around him, lightning was thrown everywhere, the ground shook. He yelled into the sky. Cracks formed in the ground and the place around him darkened.

* * *

Desmond opened his eyes, he quickly sat up. Covered in sweat, he looked around the room. Seeing the room in Lastation, it was still dark, he looked at the clock on the nightstand. It was ten minutes after two in the morning. He held his head as a strong headache moved onto him. The door to the room burst open, Noire running in. "What's going on? Are you okay? I heard yelling."

Desmond tried to speak through his heavy breathing "I… I-It's… okay… Everything's u-under control."

"Bullshit, you're crying. Now tell me what happened." Noire commanded firmly.

He pulled away his hands from his head, touching his face. He could feel the tears there now. "I had… a nightmare… or maybe a vision, I don't know."

This caught Noire slightly off guard, she spoke more softly this time "Nightmare… Was it about your family?"

He shook his head "No, it…" he paused, not wanting to remember anything he saw. "It was about all of you…" He couldn't say more than that. He just sat there quietly.

She sat next to him, placing a hand on his back "Hey, it's okay, none of that was real." 'I don't think I want to know what he saw if it made him like this.' She thought.

About fifteen minutes of them sitting there, Desmond finally started to move again. He looked at her, he gingerly placed his arms around her in a hug. "Thank you… I'm just glad you're safe… Is everyone else okay?" he questioned.

"A-As far as I know. Everyone went to bed a long time ago." She answered, as a blush moved across her face. She hadn't expected that from him.

"O-Okay…" He pulled away from her.

She could see pain in his eyes. 'just what did he see?' she thought.

"What are you doing up this late?" he asked.

"W-Well, I was up doing paperwork… I've had a lot to do since coming back after being gone for three years. I heard you yell, when I went to get a drink."

"Ha, that's gonna suck in the mornnin'. I've pulled some of those kind of work schedules, it always is a pain the next day." He said, looking a bit livelier.

"Yeah, but someone's got to do it. If you're alright, I'm gonna get on that paperwork. You should probably get some more rest." She stated.

"I-I'm actually gonna walk around, get some fresh air." Desmond spoke as he stood. "You should try to get at least some sleep soon."

"Okay, be careful, it's dark out there." Noire said before walking out of the room.

Desmond walked out of the room and walked through the halls until he met a door, it opened up to a balcony and he stepped onto it. He placed his arms on the hand rail and looked out at the city. 'What was all of that supposed to be? No matter what… I can't let it happen.' He thought. He stood there trying to clear his thoughts, he heard footsteps coming from behind. He turned around to see Neptune walking toward him. His mind went back to the dream, seeing her bleeding, dying, without a chance to help. His hand that still held onto the rail, clenched. He could feel a tear fall from his eye. This didn't escape Neptune, she moved closer to him.

"Hey, hey. Are you okay Dez. You're not one to cry over nothin'." She grabbed his free arm.

Desmond pulled her into an embrace, kissing her. After pulling away "I'm just glad you're okay. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He leaned back onto the wall and held her.

Neptune was a bit shock at the quick kiss and the words that came with it. "Whatcha talking about? I'm just the same as when we went to bed."

"I-It's something that I saw, it might have been a dream, or a vision. It didn't end well. I don't want to think about it." He answered.

"Well, everything's hunky dory now that I'm here." She exclaimed with a bright smile.

He chuckled a little "I guess you could say that, it's a reason why I love ya… Oh, crap."

A large grin grew across Neptune's face "You love me, you love me, you love me…" She teased before getting cut off with a kiss.

After pulling away he spoke "I guess that's one way to get you to stop talking." He smiled "Don't start the teasing thing, you love me too."

"Yeah, sure. But you're the one who said it first." She said while sticking her tongue at him.

He grabbed her tongue before she could retract it "Haha, if you don't want me to start tickling you, just say so… nothing then let's start." Letting go of her tongue he reached for her sides, causing the purple haired CPU to burst out in laughter.

After a solid minute of tickling, she tried to move his arms away "S-Stop, haha, stop. I-I, ha, give up let, hahaha, me go…" He finally stopped, and she tried to catch her breath. "Y-You really have some nimble fingers mister. Just don't do it again."

He moved her so that her back laid on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her. "I missed times like this, when you were gone. Just hanging around having fun ya know."

"Yeah, no joke! I was stuck in those wires, next to Noire, Vert, and Blanc for so long! It was such a snore chore." Neptune complained. She could feel his arms constrict slightly as she talked about her and the others being captured.

"You don't mind if we just sit like this for a little bit. I'm still trying to get that dream out of my mind." He asked.

"Sure, it's all good to me. It's warm and cuddly." She stated as she cuddled up to him. Before long, she heard snoring. "Huh?" she was able to turn her head enough to see that he indeed was sleeping. "Aw man, just as it was getting good. All well, probably shouldn't leave him out here." Neptune transformed, stood up and lifted him. She walked to his room where she placed him on his bed. Transforming back to her human self, an idea formed in her mind. She ended up jumping in the bed with him and throwing the blanket over her head and fell asleep.

* * *

Desmond opened his eyes as the sun shone through the window. As he did, he realized he was back in the room. He felt an object next to him. Pulling back the blanket, he saw Neptune sleeping peacefully on the bed, holding onto his arm. He bent down and spoke quietly "Wake up Neptune…" She ended up pulling closer to him, mumbling.

"But it's so warm here…" she said.

"Doesn't matter, we have to take back your nation. When did you climb into my bed anyway?" Desmond asked.

She looked up at Desmond, eyes half open. "Oh, yeah. I brought you in here after you fell asleep on the balcony. So, I decided to jump in here with you." She finished with a cheerful tone.

"Okay, well that explains that, but… You still need to get up and get ready." Desmond said.

"Ugh, but I don't wanna…" she whined, as she moved closer to him.

"Nope." He stated before lifting her up and forcing her to stand up on the floor.

"Sleep…" she muttered as she tried to jump back on the bed. But, Desmond grabbed the back of her hoodie before she could.

He moved her toward the door "Go get ready. If I find out that you go back to sleep, I'll make sure you don't get pudding today."

Neptune had a look of mild worry. "O-Okay… uh, let's not do anything hasty, Dez. That's my pudding your talking about."

"Yes, I know. But it might not be for long. So, go get ready. I hate the thought of Planeptune being under ASIC control." He stated.

"Fine, I'll get ready." Neptune said as she walked out of the room.

Desmond got himself ready and walked out of the room to see Noire walking around rather haphazardly. "Hey, you okay there?"

She looked at him with tired eyes "Oh, yeah… I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I had too much *yawn* paper work to do."

Desmond mentally facepalmed "You should've gotten more sleep, we have a battle to win today. I know that you have to fix your nation and all. But this is quite important right now."

"What about you? Did that nightmare keep you up any longer? Do you wanna talk about it?" Noire questioned, showing some level of concern.

Desmond grimaced, looking away "I-I'd rather not. There's no need to worry anyone over what it was. I'll keep it to myself, and hopefully forget it."

"If it becomes to much, you can come to me. I'm sure IF or Neptune would listen as well." Noire stated.

"Thanks. I'll make some coffee for everyone, we need to leave a soon as we can." He said before turning around.

"Thanks, that'll help. It's in the top cabinet next to the fridge." Noire said.

"Okay." He walked off to the kitchen, lifting his hand in a small wave.

After about an hour and a half later everyone was ready to leave for Planeptune.

* * *

As the party arrived at the main city of Planeptune, they could see the fighting had already started. "Wow… the battle's already started without us…" Nepgear stated as she looked around.

"It's like this all over the place. Seems we've got the upper hand for the time being." Uni added.

"Then we just gotta beat up the old lady and call it a day!" Ram shouted.

"Victory…" Rom said cheerfully.

"This will be a wondrous battle that allows us CPUs to settle a grudge that began three years ago." Vert commented.

"You bet your booty! We're gonna spank her good!" Neptune agreed.

The party moved toward the edges of the town, to a small village. There was low resistance for most of the way there. Once arriving they found their target standing in a field. "CFW Magic!" Nepgear Yelled.

"It took you long enough." Magic taunted.

"Get that silver platter ready, 'cuz you're gonna gimme back my Planeptune on it!" Neptune shouted.

"We're going to defeat you while we're at it, too." Noire commented.

"More words without action… Three years ago, none of you were able to even scathe me." The CFW taunted farther.

"Perhaps, but much can change in three years' time." Vert fired back.

"Totally! We're here now, so ha!" Ram yelled.

"And we weren't with them three years ago. Don't underestimate the strength of us humans." IF commented.

"We're gonna help the CPUs big time, just you watch!" Compa added.

"My songs will fill us with strength!" 5pb. called out.

"Strength in numbers, is that it? A tactic reserved for the weak and cowardly." Magic said.

"More like a tactic used by those with a strong military presence, that want to crush their enemy underfoot." Desmond stated.

"Words without action, right? Where one person may fail, they can succeed with the help of others." Uni countered.

"I mean, have you SEEN all my awesome wifeys, and my partner in crime, in action? They'll never lose to you!" Red shouted.

"Prepare to be cleansed, nyu." Broccoli stated with a matter of fact tone.

"Are you all quite finished? If so, I ask that you sacrifice your lives to our goddess." Magic said.

"No, thanks! I'd rather eat my shoes!" Neptune retorted.

"We're going to defeat you!" Nepgear declared.

The battle started, Uni fired several shots, all deflected by Magic. Neptune, Vert, Blanc, and Nepgear all dashed toward and attacked the CFW. The CFW was able to deflect and parry the attacks, with relative ease. IF launched a fire attack, Magic jumped back to avoid it. Spikes of ice grew from the ground of where she was going to land, she used her scythe and destroyed the ice under her.

Desmond looked at her, then the dream flashed back into his mind. How his friends died all to stop the Deity of Sin, ASIC's true leader. He knew that they couldn't let her live past this battle. He swore to himself to never see that dream or vision come true. Not wanting to give Magic a chance, he transformed.

It had been about two minutes since the start of the battle, the HDD state of Desmond being revealed once again. This time everyone could feel the anger surrounding him. His cold eyes glaring at her. The others still fighting, slowly gaining ground on their opponent. A bolt of lightning came down from the sky, striking the CFW. Although it didn't seem to affect her too much, to the annoyance of Red Heart. He floated closer, a fog that looked like a void moved around him. The fog formed two large handguns from the void, black in color, and fired a multitude of shots at Magic. She was able to block most of the shots, but between the shots that hit, and the others unrelenting strikes Magic was starting to slow. Red Heart closing in, got rid of the guns, the fog forming into a large broadsword. Swinging with a large amount of force at the CFW, clashing and locking weapons, slightly pushing her back. He growled as he stared at her. Blanc came in with an attack, Magic barely jumping back in time. Neptune attacked from the CFW's left, blocking the strike, she also kicked Nepgear moving in on the right. From above, Red Heart had changed his weapon into a double-bladed axe, slamming down onto Magic. Getting her scythe up in time to block the axe, but the force was still great enough to create a small crater in the ground. Red Heart moved back a few feet, changing his weapon again into a scythe to match Magic. Spinning the weapon around, he stopped its movement with the tip pointed downward. Magic attacked first, slicing at a diagonal angle toward him. Red Heart using the long handle of the weapon to bat away the blade, then struck Magic's arm with his blade. After doing so, he kicked her in the gut sending her flying back.

Standing back up Magic put herself into a defensive stance, as IF and Vert attacked. Redirecting Vert's spear, and throwing IF back, Magic moved forward to attack. Read Heart changed the fog around him yet again, willing it into a large katana. Blocking the strike from Magic, pushing her weapon off, he threw a few heavy strikes of his own. Pushing her further back, he then launched another strong lightning strike, hitting the CFW. Immediately after, Red Heart relinquished his weapon as he dashed to the CFW. Grabbing her scythe with one hand and her free wrist with his other. Screams could be heard as he burned the scythe into and Magic's hand away from her body. Red Heart then formed a mace, hitting the CFW in the gut throwing her back a few feet. He lifted his hand upward before speaking "Sky open…" his voice deadpan, a storm over head formed and intensified. "Mix…" the storm grew larger. "And burst!" with the downward swing of his arm large bolts of red lightning came down from the heavens, striking the ground with enough force to shake the surrounding area. The CFW didn't move as she breathed heavily.

"We won…? We really won…?" Nepgear questioned.

"Yeah! She's gonna have some real back eyes after that walloping! I knew we were strong leads!" Neptune shouted in a cheerful tone.

"So this is were my fate has led me… Then, so be it…" Magic spoke shakily.

"The other skirmishes are dying down. I dare say that your ambitions are at their end." Vert commented.

"ASIC is kaput! And we stopped the Deity of Sin from reviving!" Ram exclaimed.

"Heh… Heh, heh, heh…" Magic laughed

"What's so funny?" Noire asked.

"Her revival cannot be stopped. My death brings our end goal to fruition…" Magic explained.

"What? What're you saying? Stop trying to bring us down." Uni stated.

"We, the Four Felons, were created by our goddess… We were meant to act as her vessels in this world… Our deaths do not mark our end, rather, her beginning…" Magic continued.

"How does your death relate to the Deity of Sin's revival? Tell us, now!" IF demanded.

"The Four Felons… Vessels… I think I understand…!" Blanc stated.

"Our lifeless bodies will return to our goddess's side, and will prove sufficient to revive her…" Magic said.

"Oh, nuts! I'm pretty sure that she means beating her up made things worse for us!" Red exclaimed.

"Even if we didn't, the Deity of Sin would have revived eventually, nyu." Broccoli added.

"We lose either way…" Rom said dejected.

"I so wished to remain at our goddess's side in this form, but that is now a fading dream…" Magic stated as she was impaled.

Red Heart, holding the broadsword once more, thrusted the weapon into the chest of Magic. "I don't care what you say, it's meaningless! And if your so-called goddess does revive, I'll cut her down before she can do a damn thing!" he growled "Now, die." He finished speaking in a cold tone, as flames erupted from within Magic burning her inside and out. Nothing but screams were heard for the next few minutes. By the end of it, nothing remained.

"She's gone…" Nepgear pointed out.

"If what she said is true…" Noire started.

A large rumble shook the ground "Yeowzah!" Neptune shouted.

"This rumbling… Is this the Deity of Sin!?" Nepgear questioned.

Red Heart disengaged his HDD, a frown still on his face "If that is true, we need to get a plan together. Let's take back the rest of Planeptune and then gather the Oracles there." The others agreed.

IF walked up to him "Hey, you okay there? You looked a little more pissed off then you usually get."

"O-Oh, yeah… I'm fine… it's just, something I saw got me riled up a bit. That's all." He said, trying to play it off.

"What was it?" she questioned.

"I-It was… from… a dream." He answered sheepishly.

"Huh? How do you get mad at something like that!?" she asked.

"I don't really want to talk about it. But it'll probably be easier to tell you then Neptune or the others." He said, his gaze looking down.

"Nep said that you had a nightmare last night, is that what this is?" she asked.

"Yes." He answered as he moved her, so that they were further away from the group. Into an isolated area. "Now, what I will tell you is something that you can't tell anyone else and when I tell you, you must stay quiet. Got it?"

"Yeah, you're starting to worry me a bit, Desmond. What did you see to shake you up so much?" she questioned.

"I-I saw… Neptune and Gear attempting to gather Shares from the other nations, in an attempt to stop the Deity. Along the way, the first stop was Lastation. They fought Noire and Uni, defeating them. They had… a weapon with them… Gear and Noire wrestled, trying to hold onto it. Noire took the blade still in the hands of both of them and thrusted it into herself. Shortly after, Uni's life was taken… The blade apparently grew in power with the life of a CPU. The next stop was in Lowee… where the same happened, Blanc and the twins came out to protect their land, but lost. Neptune holding the sword, pushed it into Blanc…" He grimaced at the next part as he clenched his fists "T-Then… Gear… used the sword on the twins… Leanbox was next. Vert was able to hold out longer then the others, but in the end, she was also sacrificed to the sword. Neptune and Gear went to a field to talk… Neptune stated that there wasn't enough power in the sword… telling Gear to…" he spoke, not able to get the last part out. But IF had enough info to convey the ending.

She was visibly shaken up "W-Wow… But, why…" she pondered, before turning her gaze back on Desmond "This was just a dream, though. It's not real, it can't be…"

"The thing is, that it was presented like a vision… I couldn't interact with anything going on… Only watch… I pray it only be a dream. That's why I went off on Magic, I can't let this become real." He stated.

She embraced him, rubbing his back "We won't let it happen. I can't think of having Nep not be around permanently."

"Ah, I see you have grown a fondness of her as well. ~" he teased.

"H-Hey, don't say it like that! She's a friend, of course it would be weird not to have her craziness around. Those three years were long enough as it was." She tried to defend herself.

"I'm joking. Thanks for listening." He stated as he kissed her forehead. The two heard a voice call out.

"Iffy! Dez! Where ya two love birds at were leaving!" Neptune yelled.

"Well, time to go." Desmond stated.

"Looks like it." IF agreed, as the two walked back to the party.

The group moved back to the main part of Planeptune, by the point they reached the city center, the city was theirs again. They moved up into the basilicom, where they waited for the Oracles.

* * *

 **I have a little extra bit for Christmas. It's a bit short, as if taking a few highlights of the day. I just wanted to do something with Christmas for** December. **I was contemplating if this would be cannon to the story, and after a bit I thought it might as well. So, this would take place after the events of re birth 2.**

* * *

The sun barely shone over the horizon, as a purple haired CPU burst into a room, leaping on a bed. "Wake up Dez! Come on get up, get up. It's Christmas!" she shouted, while jumping on the bed.

Desmond moaned as he looked at the clock "Come on Neptune… It's just past six. I swear you act too much like a kid sometimes…" he tried to pull the covers over his head.

Neptune grabbed them, trying to pull them off. "Nooo, you gotta get up. It's Christmas, you can't sleep on Christmas. And it's the first Christmas that we've had together since you got here."

"Ugh, fine I'll get up. But first…" He stated before taking the blanket and wrapping Neptune in it.

"H-Hey, let me go!" She shouted, trying to wiggle her way out.

"Can you please not yell so early in the morning, honey. I stayed up too late last night." Desmond said as he held the blanket closed. He then grabbed the sides of her cheeks and stretched them. "Sleep deprivation is not fun y'know." He let go of her cheeks.

"Ow. Maybe you should've gone to bed earlier." She criticized as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"What are you talking about? You stayed up almost as long as I did. You forced me to play games most of the night." He rebutted and flicked her nose.

"Ow! Hey! You're not suppose to hurt cute girls, especially girls you love." She gave him a confident look.

"That has nothing to do with the fact that you needed a good flick in the nose. You can't yell at me about when I go to sleep, if you keep me up." He stood up, letting Neptune out of the blanket "Since I'm up, I might as well make some breakfast."

"Yeah! Now that's what I'm talkin about. See, I just needed to pester you enough. It's what I have to do as the main character." She exclaimed as she held out a hand in a V formation.

"Just… don't yell. This headache is getting bad." He let out a sigh "I need some coffee." He deadpanned as he walked to the kitchen.

She hopped up next to him, walking next to him while holding onto his arm. "While you're at it can you me some pudding flavored tea?"

"Y-Yeah, sure." He muttered, he turned his head to look at her "Hey, go head and set up some games. We can play something while we wait for everyone to wake up."

She gave him a quick hug "You're an awesome possum, Dez. To the games!" She ran off.

He smiled as he looked at her "It'd be nice if she could give me a little bit of that energy." He continued to the kitchen.

After some time, Desmond walked into the living room, where Neptune was at. She had the t.v. on, and a game on. "Neptune." He called out "Here you go."

She took the cup from him. "Thanks." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek "Now let's get to playing." She quickly downed the drink and placed the cup on a table.

Desmond sat on the couch and placed his coffee on the table and picked up a controller. Neptune sat on his lap and pressed start on her controller, setting up the game. "Can you not sit on me?"

"Why are ya complaining? You should be happy with me sitting on you. Don't guys like this kinda thing?" she questioned.

"Well I can't say for all men, but maybe… You also gotta think about your boney butt, digging into my legs after a few minutes."

"Hey! Don't insult my cute butt! I've got quite a bit of muscle on it ya know." She stated as she crossed her arms in mock anger.

"Ok,ok… It's still to early to argue with you too much. Let's start the game." Desmond responded.

The two were playing the ever popular Maryo Kart 8 game. They were playing grand prix at 150cc and bots on. Once they started the first race, Neptune moved around in her "seat" mimicking the turns in the game. During the final lap, Neptune was in first by a short distance. Going into the final turn, she moved her body to the side like she had done the entire race. Desmond pushed her just enough for her to fall off him and onto the couch, causing her kart to fly off the road and into a wall. "You should be more careful when you do that." He taunted as he moved into first place and secured the win.

Neptune crossed the finish line and then jumped at Desmond "You cheated! You pushed me off!" she threw a few punches at him, hitting his arm.

"Well, you shouldn't have moved around like that. It was too tempting." He laughed as he spoke, he then gave her a quick kiss. "Let's get back to the game."

"Fine, but I'm gonna beat you down and kick ya to the curb." She said with confidence and they started the next race.

About an hour later, Nepgear walked into the room "Merry Christmas Gear." Desmond stated.

"Heya Nep Jr! Merry Christmas!" Neptune shouted.

"M-Merry Christmas to both of as well. How long have you two been up?" Nepgear responded.

"Your sister woke me up barely past six in the frikkin morning. But I guess it's fine, we've had a good time playing Maryo Kart. How are you this morning?" he asked.

"I'm good, I just woke up a little bit ago." She answered.

"Grab a controller and join in." He stated.

"Yeah, it's always fun with more people." Neptune added.

"Okay." Nepgear said quickly before sitting on the couch.

Desmond looked at the tree in the corner of the room, seeing all the presents that were placed around it by the three sitting and all of their friends. "When are the others getting here?"

"Uni said that they'd be here in the morning, so probably not too long from now. I'm not sure about everyone else."

"Okay." He responded as the three started to play.

Another hour and forty-five minutes later. Noire, Uni, Blanc, Rom and Ram all arrived and greeted the three in the room.

"Hey Noire! Blanc! Merry Christmas!

Nepgear invited the other candidates to her room to play games while they waited for the last few to arrive. Desmond smiled as they walked off. "What's with the smile?" Noire asked.

"They're always so happy when they're around each other. It's nice to see that they get along well. Especially considering that you four CPUs fought each other. They didn't have to deal with anything like that." Desmond answered.

"I guess I get what you mean." Noire stated.

"Now, you two get over here and grab controllers. We don't know how long it'll be till the last few get here." Desmond said as he gestured to the table holding the controllers on it.

"Fine. What are we playing?" Noire questioned.

"We were playing Mayro Kart, now we were about to start up some Smash." He responded.

"This should be fun." Blanc said in her monotone voice.

Not much time passed, and Blanc would want to take back those words. She attempted to bash the other three after a three on one against Blanc, due to the game being from her nation. Desmond was able to take away her hammer before she could cause any damage and held it until she calmed down.

IF and Compa were the next two in. Then after another forty-five minutes later, Vert finally arrived. The Candidates were called out of Nepgear's room, to open presents.

They started to open the presents, some of the items that were received were. Neptune got several large packs of pudding from Desmond that he had hidden in the fridge. Rom and Ram got coloring books from Nepgear. Noire and Uni gave Desmond a pistol that was black in color, but had a chrome engraving of the Lastation cityscape. Blanc received novels by most of the people there. Compa got new cooking ware. Vert was given boxes of tea and figurines. Nepgear got several electronic and other hardware pieces. And IF received a new phone.

IF picked up a box, seeing it being from Desmond she gave the young man next to her a quick glance before opening it. Inside the box was a necklace. It had a silver chain, a round emerald that was surrounded by small sapphires. "Thank you Desmond… It's beautiful…" she turned toward him embraced him, and kissed his cheek.

"Oooo, that looks like it cost a pretty penny." Neptune stated while staring at the necklace. "Where's mine?" she asked in an innocent tone.

"It did cost a bit, but she's worth it." He gave her a quick side hug. "As for you Neptune. I wouldn't think that you'd want something like that, I would've thought that the pudding would be enough for you. ~" he teased.

She puffed her cheeks in a pouty fashion "Hey! I like other things besides pudding."

He reached from behind him and pulled out another small box and handed it to her "Well, if you're gonna be impatient, here you go."

Neptune's eyes lit up as she took the box from him and opened it. The necklace in the box was one that also had a silver chain. It had used several small amethysts, designed in a shape of a power symbol. She stopped and stared at it, she didn't say anything, nor did she move.

"Hey, ya there Neptune? I'm gonna take that you like it." He questioned as he poked her forehead. She nodded furiously, then quickly closed the distance kissing him.

After everyone opened their presents and spent most of the day having fun. After having dinner, the other CPUs left and so did Compa. Leaving just the Nep sisters, Histoire, IF, and Desmond left in the basilicom. They had played games, watched movies, just hung out in general. It was a little past ten and Desmond, Neptune, and IF were on the couch next to each other watching a movie. Nepgear was in her lab working with the items she was given earlier. And Histoire moved to her room to sleep.

IF looked down at her new necklace, smiling. She wrapped her hand around Desmond's, leaning on his shoulder. "Thank you…" she muttered as she felt sleep move over her, the heaviness of her eyes took control and closed.

Neptune hugged Desmond, leaning into him. "You're the best Dez, ya know. Well, the best besides me of course." She laughed. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before falling asleep.

He looked at the two girls to both sides of him and smiled. "Of course the two of you are better, why else do you think I got the necklaces. You're both amazing." He moved his free arm to pat Neptune on the head, while he kissed the top of IF's head. "Goodnight, you two." He put his head back and got some well needed rest.

Nepgear walked in a few minutes later to check up on everyone after finishing her experiments for the day. She smiled warmly at what she saw. She grabbed a blanket and placed it over the three of them, then went to her own room to sleep.

Neptune opened one of her eyes "Merry Christmas everyone." she closed her eye and went back to sleep.

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It sucked going through, the ending that shall not be named. But it had to be done to integrate it into the story. I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas part as well. Leave a review and let me know what you think. And as always have a good day.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Welcome back to HDN A New World. It's been a while, sorry for the long wait. I took some time off to rest around Christmas and New Years, then games also took quite a bit of my time as well. But I'm back with another chapter.**

 **Blue555Nexus: The reveal of Blue Heart won't happen till next chapter, sorry if you were hoping for that in this one. As for the lightning colors it goes from yellow, blue (these two are mainly in base form and normal attacks within HDD), then red for high power attacks, eventually black, thoughts of maybe a white lightning being the most powerful, but not sure at the moment. And thanks for the support.**

 **RedBurningDragon: To be fair, I have no knowledge of the .hack series. After a little research, the divine awakening maybe, but not at the moment. And the data drain from what little I have seen, it's not what I think of the void/ fog. I think it would be closer to how Cinder from creates her weapons, almost from thin air, coming from the fog. I'm glad you liked the Christmas special.**

 **Kamencolin: Thanks for the encouragement.**

* * *

The Oracles entered the basilicom, and after Histoire heard what had transpired during the battle, she spoke. "Yet again, I failed to expect that they would have such a well-prepared plan in place…"

"Is the Deity of Sin going to revive?" Nepgear asked in worry.

"Most likely. I gained intel stating that a powerful aura is emanating from the Gamindustri Graveyard." Kei answered.

"That really bites my bullet! Here I thought we beat up the bad guys and stuff!" Neptune shouted.

"What's gonna happen now?" Compa questioned.

"Our information seems to indicate that Arfoire will not stop until all Gamindustri has been devoured. If our research holds true, that will mean the end of this world as we know it." Mina responded.

"How reassuring." Uni muttered.

"I still don't understand why ASIC would want to revive such a dangerous being in the first place." 5pb. pondered.

"Some people just want to watch the world burn. Cults like that have existed in the past, after all." Chika stated.

"I feel bad for the ones who were being used as unwitting tools to that end." Blanc added.

"Stop it. You're making me feel bad for members of ASIC, nyu." Broccoli commented.

"Hmm… Instead of flapping our mouth wings, we should flap our arm wings and hunt down Arfoire!" Neptune exclaimed.

"As if it would be that easy. She's probably called a goddess for a reason, you know?" Noire interjected.

"But if we don't, this world is done for. That's why we go out, beat her, then come home for snacks." Neptune responded.

"I'm with Neptune on this. We need to take out Arfoire before her power begins to grow. The faster the better." Desmond added.

"Goddess or not, as long as I have my wifey brigade, losing is not an option!" Red yelled.

"I think you're forgetting someone." Desmond muttered.

"I think we should beat her up, too. It'll be a cinch for someone as super sweet as me!" Ram exclaimed.

"Listening to you kids really makes the situation sound less severe than it actually is…" IF stated.

"But they may be right. Our approaches may be different, but our end goals are all the same." Vert commented.

"Our time is short, that much is certain. We must decide our plan while Arfoire is still reviving." Mina pointed out.

"Once she exits the Gamindustri Graveyard, that's if for us all. The situation is critical." Kei tagged on.

"This will be our last battle. I am sorry to constantly ask for you to put your lives on the line…" Histoire said apologetically.

"Histy, you talk so much, I hear your voice when I close my ears. Don't worry about it, okay?" Neptune stated trying to reassure the tome.

"Don't try to blame yourself Histoire. Putting our lives on the line is part of the job. Anyway, no one ever said that it'd be easy." Desmond added.

"They're right. Isn't it our sworn duty as CPU's to protect Gamindustri with our lives?" Noire agreed.

"As Lowee's CPU, I have a personal interest in seeing the goddess said to have been born in my nation." Blanc stated.

"The final boss battle is the most exciting moment in any game. I cannot wait to face her." Vert commented.

"Rest assured, Histoire, we'll definitely win." Nepgear said in a confident tone.

"Thank you. I pray for your victory, and for the safety of Gamindustri's future." Histoire responded.

A short time later the party left to Graveyard.

* * *

After arriving in the Graveyard the group fought through the monsters that got in their way as they moved to the inner part of the Graveyard. They could see a large creature moving, it even spoke. "Destruction… Everything…"

"That must be the Deity of Sin, Arfoire." Nepgear stated.

"Heavens, what a brute." Vert commented.

"If the people knew she looked like this, I doubt anyone would have put their faith in her." IF added. The Deity of Sin yelled out.

"I don't sense any intelligence coming from her, nyu." Broccoli said.

"It's hard to put into words, but the sound of her voice… It strikes a very sour note…" 5pb. commented.

"Arfoire… A gigantic mass of pure, concentrated evil…" Blanc muttered.

"Save the commentary. I think she's spotted us and knows that we're her enemies." Noire pointed out.

The Deity yelled out again as it moved forward. "Yikes! Wh-What should we do?" Compa asked.

"Aw, Compie-poo, isn't it obvious? We're gonna give her the ol' what-for and end this madness!" Neptune answered.

"But man, she looks strong. Definitely not my type of wifey." Red commented.

"You two don't seem to be affected by this in the least." IF stated. She looked over at Desmond, she could see the mess of emotions coming from him. She could see the pain and worry in his eyes, as the rest of his body tensed in anger. 'That dream really affected him, didn't it? Don't worry Desmond, we'll make sure that'll never happen.' She thought.

"Okay, okay, whatever! We finish her off and then we're all done, right?" Ram questioned.

"Right. It was a pretty crazy ride, but now…" Uni started.

"It's time to end it…" Rom ended Uni's sentence.

"Yes. Let's banish her from our world for good!" Nepgear yelled.

"M-Must kill, must kill, must kill. Kill, kill, kill, kill. Must save everyone, must kill Arfoire. Save, kill, Save, kill. Save, kill." Desmond muttered quietly as the energy around him started to increase in activity. IF, who was close enough to hear him, looked on in worry. His HDD activated, a scythe held in both hands, the battle began.

Red Heart dashed forward, and the others followed suit. They barraged Arfoire with attacks on all sides. The Deity moved too slow to effectively hit anyone Red Heart formed two large axes, and channeled electricity into them. He slammed his weapons into the front of the Deity, attacking over and over without moving from his position. His rage caused him to lose any form of strategy, which allowed Arfoire to grab him as he continued to hammer away at the Deity. Not noticing any pain that was brought upon his body. "DIE! DIE! DIE!" He yelled at the creature, as he finally cut the arm that held him. Red Heart then let one axe vanish as he charged electricity around him, and releasing it in a concentrated explosion that launched the axe at speeds faster than sound. The axe made contact with two more arms, as the Deity cried out. Red Heart then floated down to where the mouth of the beast was at. He proceeded to create his hand blades and cut the teeth of the monster. After doing so, he fired a continuous stream of fire into the Deity, burning it from the inside out.

The fight was over with little resistance, everyone was too fast for Arfoire to fight on the level needed. The Deity spoke as it lost "Body… Collapsing…" it fell into the ground destroyed as parts burned away.

"Did we… defeat her?" Nepgear questioned.

"Yeah… Yeah, we did! We won!" Uni shouted.

"Thank goodness… Now the world can know peace…" 5pb. commented.

"Don't relax just yet!" Noire interjected.

The ground shook as an orb of light rose from the body that housed Arfoire, they could hear it speak "Will not perish… Seek a new body…!"

"What's that light, nyu?" Broccoli questioned.

"That's… probably the true form of the Deity of Sin." Blanc answered.

"We merely destroyed her physical body. We cannot say we have succeeded unless we fell that light!" Vert added.

"Okay, how's this!?" Red shouted as she tried to attack the light.

"My super-duper fist-o-doom! Hiiiiyah!" Neptune joined in, but alas their efforts were futile.

"Oomph! Did I miss? No way! It went right through!" Red said in slight shock.

"Whoa, that's some crummy hit detection, you guys! No fair!" Neptune yelled.

"Calm down, Nep. There's no point in complaining." IF commented.

Red Heart looked at the light and growled, he fired off torrents of electricity trying to hit it. Even though he knew it wouldn't work, he couldn't help it. In his mind the only way to keep everyone alive was to kill Arfoire, and he was a bit pissed that she lived the first time. He stopped a few moments later as he continued to glare at it. IF grabbed a hold of one of his hands in an attempt to calm him down, which did help him.

"Wh-What should we do? We can't win if we don't beat her!" Compa shouted.

"My body… All around me…" The Deity spoke as it shot downward into the graveyard.

"The light… went into the ground…" Rom pointed out.

"What? Huh? Can someone explain what's happening right now?" Ram asked.

The ground shook violently "A sudden quake!? It's hard to stay standing…!" IF yelled. Red Heart lifted IF up and floated just above the ground.

The others had a hard time to keep standing, and a few let out of few cries as they fell.

After the quake subsided Blanc spoke "Is she… fusing with the Gamindustri Graveyard itself?"

"That does not bode well. We ought to retreat and draw up a new plan." Vert suggested.

"Man, it's so derpy to run away from the last boss like this!" Neptune commented.

"Feel free to stay behind, then. We'll avenge your noble sacrifice." Noire said in a half joke, half sarcasm tone.

"Ewww. Okay, okay, let's roll." Neptune responded.

"You okay?" IF asked in worry.

"Not completely… We'll all be better once she's dead." Red Heart stated bluntly, looking toward the light.

"You can't let this nightmare cloud your judgment Desmond. If you do, it can hurt you. I know you took some shots in that fight, thankfully you can tank some damage. We'll stop her, we're just going to need a little more time. Okay?" IF said as she pulled his face downward and looked into his eyes, still seeing the pain and anger in them. "I'm just glad that she wasn't strong enough to hurt you."

"I know… As much as I try, it's still hard. Just a partial thought about what I saw, just…" He closed his eyes and took a breath before opening them again "Sorry, I'll try to be more careful. I suppose I should change back." The dark light encased him again as he reverted back into his human form. "I guess we should hurry back."

"Yeah, we need to figure out what our next plan of attack is." IF agreed, as the two moved closer to the others.

The party then went back to the basilicom to report to the Oracles.

* * *

After the party arrived and gave their report Histoire spoke. "I see. I incorrectly assumed we could destroy the Deity of Sin while she was housed in her shell."

"Sounds to me like every call you make is the wrong one." Chika pointed out, rudely.

"I have nothing to counter that accusation with." Histoire responded.

"This isn't the time to point fingers. Let's focus on giving constructive criticisms, shall we?" Kei stated.

"Fusing with the graveyard will take some time. We should use this respite wisely…" Histoire said.

"I… believe I recall reading something similar to this situation." Mina pondered.

A phone started to ring, Kei picked up hers "Oh, pardon me. How rude, keeping my phone on during a business meeting."

Another phone rang, this time IF's "Oh, I'm getting a call, too. Meito, from the Guild…"

Even more phones rang the last two from Chika and Mina. "Why, even my phone is ringing. Who would call me at such a time?" Chika questioned.

"And there goes mine. How unusual. Nobody ever calls me." Mina stated.

"What was that?" Kei asked.

"Don't joke with me about something like that. I will fry your hide with butter if you do!" Chika shouted into her phone.

"Yes, understood. Thank you for calling." Mina said as she hung up her phone.

"Uh-huh. Okay. I'll take it from here." IF stated, closing her flip phone.

"What's up, ladies? Your dates all bail on you or something?" Neptune asked jokingly "Well I guess except Iffy, you've got Dez… Unless, you've got someone else on the side! How could you Iffy, betraying us like that!" she said in dramatic fashion.

"She's not dating you, and I'm pretty sure that's not what's happing." Desmond deadpanned as he flicked Neptune in the forehead, causing her to yelp.

Neptune rubbed her head, as she stuck her tongue at the man. "That's what you think~" she teased, with a wink.

IF's face had a hint of red on it "Y-You know our relationship is not like that Nep!"

"Ooo, what's with the blushing Iffy?~ Am I too tempting for you?~" Neptune joked, before getting hit in the head by Desmond.

"That's enough for now, we have serious matters to deal with Neptune. If you want to tease her later than, I guess that's fine. It's cute to see her get all riled up." He stated.

"Ow. Fine, I'll stop for now. But you hear that Iffy? Dez gave me the green light for later." Neptune said as she rubbed the top of her head.

"Agh. Dammit Desmond, why'd you have to say that?" IF asked as the redness in her face subsided.

"Now back on important topics. Someone claiming to be one of the Four Felons has appeared in Lastation." Kei stated.

"That's happening in Lowee, too. Although no battle has broken out yet…" Mina added.

"Same situation on my end. Makes sense, since we all received a call at roughly the same time." Chika commented.

"Planeptune's no different. So, each nation has one of the Four Felons skulking around?" IF joined in.

"How are they even back?" Nepgear asked in worry.

"This doesn't sound good."

"No kidding. We have to fight those idiots again, nyu." Broccoli added.

"Did they make any demands?" Noire questioned.

"Well…" Mina started. Those who answered the calls relayed the demands.

"Foolish mortals, hear the edict of our revived goddess, Arfoire!" Was said by Brave.

"With Arfoire back, decimating this nation would be simple, but there wouldn't be any fun in that." Trick stated.

"So we will give you ten days. Put your faith in Arfoire. If even one of you does not…" Magic relayed.

"Hyahahahahha! We'll kill every last one of you!" Judge finished.

"Those demands are sheer insanity." Vert said after hearing the information.

"Ewww… Do we have to fight that fat pervy robot again?" Ram asked.

"Blech…" Rom sounded off, feeling the same as Ram.

"Brave… How could you…?" Uni questioned as she looked toward the ground.

"We gotta do something! Let's go punch a few new holes in 'em, my loyal wifey brigade! And partner!" Red shouted.

"At least she remembered me this time." Desmond muttered.

"Sounds good to me! I'm not gonna let them take my home away from me again." Neptune stated.

"Calm down. If they plan to keep their word, we have ten days." Blanc interjected.

"Will that be enough time to come up with a plan?" 5pb. asked.

"Ah! Yes, now I remember!" Mina blurted out.

"Whoa, Mina, don't shout all of a sudden. It's really weird." Ram stated.

"You're not one to talk about random shouting's Ram." Desmond said as he gave the back of her head a lite chop.

"S-Sorry. I just remembered what I had read, and I couldn't believe that I would forget about it…" Mina continued.

"Out with it, already." Blanc commented.

"There was a document that mentioned a battle between an ancient CPU and the Deity of Sin. I believe she was known a Uranus." Mina spoke.

"I recall that name, as well. She was a CPU from the past that resided over Planeptune, correct?" Histoire asked.

"Yes, that's what the document said." Mina answered.

"If we ask her for help, do you think she'd give us a hint on how to stop the Deity of Sin?" Nepgear questioned.

"If she's still alive, you mean. I doubt that even a CPU can live forever." IF responded.

"I was under the understanding that they did, unless an outside source were to kill them." Desmond commented.

"But if the Deity of Sin isn't an exception, the CPU may still exist in spirit, without a physical body." Noire stated.

"Let's figure it out, my sleuthing buddies! Not like twiddling our thumbs is helping anything!" Neptune added.

"If she was a Planeptune CPU, we might be able to find her quick. Let's move, everyone!" Nepgear commanded as she moved toward the door.

"Looks like Gear is getting fired up about this, good." IF stated.

"Yeah, we don't need her losing her composure this late into things. Well, let's get moving." Desmond responded, as the they moved with the others out of the basilicom.

* * *

Over the next couple of days, the party looked for info on the ancient CPU. Histoire took time to look in her tome, many looked to old manuscripts. And even questions to citizens were asked. When enough info was gathered the group set out. The party made their way to the depths of Lan Castle. "If the information we received is correct, the spirit of the ancient CPU should be here…" Vert stated.

"Uh, I don't see anyone." Ram said as she looked around.

"Of course you don't. She has no physical form, nyu." Broccoli retorted.

"But then, how will we find Miss Ancient CPU Lady?" Compa asked.

"Maybe she'll spook us if we ask her to show herself and move a chair or something. Yo, Uranus!" Neptune yelled.

"M-Maybe a song will lure her out… Ohhhh Lady Uranus~ Pleeeease appear to us~" 5pb. sang.

"I don't really think that'll work you two." Desmond stated as he sweat dropped.

"You're just making a racket… Why would a CPU appear just because you—" IF started but was interrupted, by the ancient CPU.

"What is all this commotion?" Uranus asked.

"It actually worked." Uni said in surprise.

"You have got to be kidding me…" Desmond deadpanned.

"I guess my comment triggered some kind of appearance flag." IF stated.

"Excuse me, are you Uranus?" Nepgear questioned.

"Indeed. I wish you hadn't interrupted my beauty sleep, but this is no time to rest… It's unprecedented to see nine CPUs approach me at once." Uranus responded.

"So you know that I'm one as well." Desmond said, not too shocked by the deduction of the ancient CPU.

"Yes. I can tell from the energy that you all give off. So, it was easy." Uranus answered.

"The Deity of Sin, Arfoire, has been revived. Do you need any more explanation than that?" Blanc said, before Desmond could speak.

"I see." Uranus spoke, as if she was thinking.

"We were like SO close to beating her up, then we couldn't do anything to hurt her for some reason." Red explained.

"We heard that you defeated the Deity of Sin in the past." Noire stated.

"Could you… show us how…?" Rom asked.

"I'm noticing some misunderstandings. First of all, I fought the Deity of Sin alongside three other CPUs. However, they lost their lives, meaning they do not even have a spiritual form as I now have." Uranus started.

"Three CPUs, gone forever…" Nepgear said, with worry in her voice.

"Even then, we could not stop her… Had we truly defeated her, this situation would not be occurring. All we were able to do was weaken her powers enough to seal her away. That was the most we could muster…" Uranus continued.

"But if you weakened her, that means you could damage her, right? So… how'd you do that?" Neptune asked.

"That is the piece of information we seek above all else." Cave added.

"Learning this would mean that you may become like me… Or you may even lose your lives…" Uranus warned.

"It must be better than the alternative. I have seen one path to destruction, I would like to not live it. Tell us." Desmond said, without a hint of doubt that this needed to be done.

"Please tell us." Nepgear added.

"An answer without hesitation. You are certainly young and bright-eyed…" Uranus said directed toward Nepgear. "And you, young man… I sense a great deal of pain and confliction within you. But also, much power. So much so… With all of you, it might really be done. Very well…"

"Thank you very much!" Nepgear said happily.

"As you know, the Deity of Sin is without form. She is an amalgamation of all negative emotions and desires." Uranus explained. "Thus, no physical assault will work. One must utilize a form of emotion and desire opposite her own." Desmond internally facepalmed, if it is what he interrupted it to be.

"What kinds of emotions and desires?" Uni asked.

"Maybe like, my desire to eat tons of snacks and fall into a food coma? Is that all we need to win?" Neptune questioned.

"I'd almost feel bad for our enemy if she lost to those desires." Noire commented.

"Any desire should work, theoretically. It need only be stronger than hers, else her evil will overtake you." Uranus responded. "As was the case with myself."

"Is that how you lost your body?" Blanc asked.

"Yes. You will need to unite your strongest emotions and desires to ensure victory over her own." Uranus spoke.

'This is starting to sound like some kind of cheap anime tact to allow the heroes to win. Power of friendship to the rescue again.' Desmond thought as he placed a hand on his face.

"Our strongest… So for me, that's finding the world's best collection of wifeys!" Red shouted.

"Eating slabs of steak, nyu." Broccoli added.

"Singing for a global audience…" 5pb. said.

"If that's all, then it's simple." Nepgear started to speak.

"Oh?" Uranus interested waited for her to continue.

"Protect Gamindustri. Our feelings of wanting to protect the world we love is the strongest desire of all!" Nepgear finished.

'Yep, friendship cannon activate… But I can't say my motives are much different. As long as these girls are safe, then everything will be fine. Even if we have to rebuild the nations from the ground up, harm must not befall anyone here.' Desmond thought, as his determination was shown on his face.

"Only you could say something so cheesy with a straight face." IF commented.

"But Ge-Ge is right. Nothing else can beat that feeling!" Compa added.

"As true as rain! No way could I eat and pass out without a safe Gamindustri to live in." Neptune stated.

"I cannot fathom the terror of losing my ability to play games due to a chaotic world." Vert said.

"You're all shockingly honest about your true motivations." Noire stated.

"Books…" Blanc added.

"Hehe. These are the modern CPUs? Perhaps I would have met a different end had we met back in my age. Wishful thinking, I suppose. I cannot leave this place, but I will be wishing you the best of luck." Uranus stated.

"Thank you for all your help." Nepgear said in gratitude.

"I would have expected the method to be a bit more… difficult." Desmond stated.

"Well, we needed some way to do it. Thank the creators for making it so easy." Neptune responded.

"We need to go back to the basilicom and report this to Histoire." Noire commented, the others agreed. The party then made their way back to Planeptune's basilicom.

* * *

After arriving at the basilicom they relayed the information to the tome. "You were able to gain an audience with the ancient CPU?"

"Yes we did" Nepgear answered.

"Now we know where the Deity of Sin keeps her family jewels or whatever!" Neptune added.

"Yeah. I think we can do this now." Falcom stated.

"The power of emotion and desire… Ironic that our most solid chance to win comes from such abstract concepts." Kei said in amusement.

"Now, now. Faith is also abstract, but it powers the CPUs, no? All of these are vital to our lives." Mina responded.

"Then we shall go and destroy the Deity of Sin straight away! Or… so I'd like to say, but…" Chika started.

"The Four Felons' deadline is only a few days away. I can scarcely say that our timing is fortuitous." Kei finished for Chika.

"Without you all, it will not be possible to protect our nations. Please handle that threat first." Mina added.

"You want us to defeat all four of them in a single day?" Noire asked.

"What a pain." IF said, channeling her inner Shikamaru.

"No problem, buddy girls and buddy boy. It's basic game design that any returning villains can be destroyed easily." Neptune stated.

"But this isn't a game Neptune." Desmond retorted.

"You're right… It's a fanfic." Neptune responded with a wide smile.

"We just have to try our hardest, nyu." Broccoli added.

"We really have to fight them again…" Nepgear said with slight worry on her face.

"I'm so totally gonna make that dumb perv eat his won tongue!" Ram shouted.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh…" Rom noised her agreement.

"Brave… I thought we had come to a mutual understanding…" Uni said dejectedly.

"It might not really be him that we will see." Desmond stated as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"If Arfoire is back then it wouldn't be surprising if she revived the Felons. Which also means she could've have corrupted the mind of Brave even more than before." He answered.

"I hope that's what happened…" Uni stated, as Desmond moved his hand.

"We will act tomorrow. Rest well tonight." Histoire said.

"We were just about to, but…" Vert started.

"I won't be able to sleep in someone else's basilicom." Blanc stated.

"I thought as much and prepared a special room of ours for you all. I am certain you will enjoy it." Histoire responded.

"Ooooooo, is it… that room Histy?" Neptune asked.

"Yes." She responded.

Neptune grabbed Desmond's arm "Let's go Dez!"

He flicked her in the forehead "I don't think so. I not going into that room with all of you there, that would be indecent. I know that you might not know that Neptune, but I do. So, don't try."

"Awww, but why it'd be fun." She whined.

"I just said why!" He barked.

"What room is it?" Noire asked.

"It's a room with a large hot spring-esque bath. That's why I won't be joining you all." Desmond answered.

Noire's face flashed red "N-N-Neptune! You tried to make him join us in a bath! W-Why would you do that!?"

"Because it'd be fun, we can splash around, and throw toys and buckets of water." She answered.

"Ugh, you don't have a shameless bone in your body, do you?" Blanc questioned.

"Of course, I have some. But we'd have towels on so what's the big deal?" Neptune countered.

"The answer is still no." Desmond reiterated, he then grabbed her cheeks and stretched them. "Now stop trying to rope me into this and you all go have fun, okay."

"F-Fine, just let go. That hurts." Neptune said the best she could, rubbing her cheeks after he let go.

The party, excluding Desmond, then moved to where the special room was. "I'm sorry we do not have two of those rooms, so you could relax Desmond." Histoire said as she bowed in an apology.

"It's okay. I don't need a special bath to get me relaxed. A good hot shower and a comfy seat or bed is good enough for me. They need the break, they've earned it." Desmond responded as he waved his hand.

"Don't try to demean what you have done Desmond. You have done so much for Gamindustri. I cannot express my gratitude for all the good you have done." Histoire stated.

"It's all in a day's work. It is my world too now, so why wouldn't I do all that I can. It really isn't that big of a deal." He retorted. "I'm gonna go back to my room, see you all later." He waved as he walked to his room.

"It is refreshing to see such humility in one so young." Kei stated.

"Indeed." Mina responded. 'Well when he's not angry at least.' she thought

* * *

The party arose the next morning and prepared themselves for the day. After leaving the basilicom they decided to head to the dungeon named Junk Box, where CFW Judge was said to be. The party didn't have to go to far until they found Judge yelling to himself.

"This one's as insane as ever. I'd even say he's gotten worse." IF stated.

"You aren't allowed to send anyone in Planeptune to the hospital!" Compa yelled getting the CFW's attention.

"Huh!? Ohhhh, it's you all… My most desired prey… My preeeeeeey!" he shouted, mostly directed at IF, Compa, and Desmond. "I'll never forget you! Never! Two times… I almost took your lives twice before, but failed!"

"Yeah. You could even say the outcomes have been one to one so far." IF responded.

"Gaaaaaah! My eternal rivals…! I'll break that tie and kill you, once and for all!" The CFW yelled.

"I don't wanna have a rival!" Compa shot back.

"And I don't want to die, so we'll put an end to this… and to you!" IF stated.

"You're not worth my time. Let's get this over with." Desmond stated as he transformed, preparing for the battle.

"Ohhhh, you're a CPU now! It won't change what I'll do to you!" Judge yelled as he swung his weapon at Red Heart.

Red Heart sidestepped the axe, as Judge's weapon hit the ground Red Heart grabbed it sending an electric current through it to the CFW. Judge tried to move but his body wouldn't respond. "What the hell did you do!?"

Red Heart started to walk around the CFW in circles "I have the ability to control electricity so, I'm able to hold your body still. Don't bother trying to move, the only way how is if I relinquish my hold. It might have been a bit strenuous to do this in my human form, but it is quite simple now." He stood in front of the CFW "Rom, Ram." After getting their attention, he nodded his head. The twins then cast a large circle where Judge was, allowing ice to grow onto his body. Judge's body from the arm down was encased in ice, Red Heart floated up to the head of the CFW. "I guess I should let out some steam…" Red Heart formed a large mace and proceeded to hit the upper portion of the CFW's body, producing large dents in Judge. Red Heart let the mace disappear, and placed a hand on the CFW's head. He poured flames onto Judge, quickly turning the metal bright red. Judge could feel the heat coming from his hand, but could only see the coldness and hatred in his eyes. "You were never a challenge to begin with, the weakest of the Felons. With only strength to rely on, it was easy to lure you into a trap. Now… I will erase you from your petty existence. Burn away." The fire from Red Heart's hand turned blue as it cascaded down, fully enveloping Judge's body. It quickly started to melt the CFW.

"Nooooooooooo! Not again…! I… don't want… to disappear…! I still have things I want to kiiiiiiiiillllllll…!" Judge screamed as he finally faded away in the fire.

"And that, is that." Red Heart stated as he floated back to the ground.

"Good job, Dez!" Compa praised.

"Well, I guess we really didn't need to be here. You handled him by yourself." IF said arms crossed, clearly wanting to be in the fight.

"Well, not completely. I needed the ice there to keep him still after releasing my electrokinesis. But it wouldn't have been a fun fight anyway. The other three should be more… entertaining. And on that note, we should head off to the next one. Where to next?" Red Heart responded.

"I suppose Lowee." Nepgear answered.

"I believe that's where Trick is." Vert stated.

"Let's hurry up so I can bash his head in!" Blanc yelled.

* * *

The party then arrived at the Icicle Pathway dungeon. About midway through the place they saw Trick sitting around, looking in multiple directions, talking to himself. Ram shouted at him "Hey! Stop being gross!"

Trick was elated to see the twins "Oooh! There you are, my cute CPUs! Now I can defeat you and keep you as my eye candy forever!"

"You're the dummiest dummy ever! We're not gonna lose to you!" Ram yelled.

"Pervy dummy…" Rom added.

"Yes, you are correct. I am the gentlest perverted gentleman in the world, Sir Tricky Perv!" Trick responded.

Desmond growled as he stepped forward, just behind the twins "Shut your mouth you, pathetic waste! Gentleman my ass! A gentleman doesn't go around trying to touch underage girls, that would be a freaking pedophile you, dickhead! And creatures like you need to die! A thousand years of torture wouldn't be enough for what you've done!" His eyes glowed with anger and the surrounding area, started to get hotter. Simultaneously a stronger concentration of electricity started to flow around him.

"Hahaha. That is your foolish thoughts. Smaller boobs are better, the big ones end up saggin' to the ground." Trick rebutted.

"He gives me headaches…" Rom stated.

"Stay strong, Rom. We gotta do what we gotta do to this dumb jerk!" Ram commanded.

"Now then, allow me to wash your hair with my tongue, and then braid it ever so lovingly…" Trick stated.

"Gaaaah! Gross me out! Shut up! I'm gonna cut that stupid tongue off and make sure you never talk again!" Ram shouted.

"Snip, snip…!" Rom added.

Desmond placed a hand on both of the girls' head "I couldn't have said it better myself. But I think we should add some more pain to his death! I am one man you shouldn't have pissed off!" He entered HDD, but something was different. A few of Red Heart's processor pieces we that of White Heart's. He started the battle as he summoned a handful of ice balls in the air and proceeded to hit them with a broadsword that he materialized.

"The hell!? How'd he do that?" Blanc questioned.

"I thought he had no affinity with ice magic." Noire stated, partially dumbfounded.

"It is most likely due to his connection to the Sharicites." Vert mused.

"If you look some of his processor pieces look like yours Blanc." Neptune stated.

Blanc's eyes narrowed a little "Yeah, they do. But that's enough chit chat, time to bash this pervert's face in." she materialized her hammer as she moved in.

"Let's go girls!" Neptune shouted as everyone else started to move into attack positions.

Trick blocked the incoming ice balls, only to have ice spikes coming toward him from his sides sent by the twins. He moved back just in time to avoid the attack. But he didn't notice Blanc attacking from the rear. She hammered him forward where Red Heart waited with a large mace, connecting it to the side of Trick throwing him across the room. From the small dust cloud around the beast, Trick shot his tongue out only for it to be crushed with Blanc's hammer. Red Heart formed a large multitude of blades, each with a red-hot glow and suspended them in the air. Then he launched them into Trick's tongue cutting into and burning it. Trick could only cry out in anguish, as his greatest weapon was yet again made useless. Blanc grabbed her hammer and started to attack the body of the CFW, not showing any mercy. Red Heart walked forward as he looked at Blanc's onslaught with his cold eyes, but stopped just short of Trick. He reached out his hand and began to freeze his tongue. "You worthless waste of mater. You deserve all of the pain that the universe could give. Sadly, you won't be alive for that to happen, so I might as well make your death as painful as possible." Red Heart spoke in a chillingly calm tone. He cut off the arms of the CFW, Trick cried out in pain. Red Heart then held a hand out toward Trick's tongue "Would you." Looking at Blanc.

"With pleasure." Blanc stated before smashing the frozen tongue in two. Trick reeled back in pain, screaming. Until the CFW felt something hit him, he opened his eyes to see Red Heart holding a scythe. As Trick looked down he could see fire pouring from his body, he also felt it burning within him, slowly consuming him. Red Heart snapped his fingers, and the fire covered the CFW completely, until there was nothing left. Red Heart reverted his transformation, Blanc asked a question "What was with the changes?"

"Hmm, I guess I just drew on more power from Lowee. Maybe because were here, but I was able to use more of Lowee's power." He answered.

"Fine, just don't be reckless with it." Blanc stated, as they moved toward the group.

"Where to next?" Compa questioned.

"I suppose Lastation, it's the closest to here. Noire, do you know where Brave was said to be at?" Desmond said.

"I was told he was in the Infinite Corridor dungeon." Noire responded.

"Okay, let's move everyone." Desmond stated as he walked toward the entrance.

"Yeah!" a few shouted as they followed.

* * *

After arriving in the Infinite Corridor, the party moved through the place fighting the low tier monsters that got in their way. After a short trip, they found where the CFW stood. "Brave…" Uni spoke, looking dejectedly at one she thought she had made some common ground with.

"You've come. Such insolence, defying our infallible goddess!" Brave shouted.

"You… are Brave, aren't you? Did you forget about our promise?" Uni asked.

"What is this nonsense? I would never mingle with the ignorant!" The CFW yelled back.

"No way…" said sadly.

"There's no use. He isn't the same being as the one before. All we can do is fight him and free him." Noire stated.

"Wait, Noire! Please let me speak with him for a little longer…" Uni spoke up.

"I refuse to engage in meaningless prattle! All CPUs are my enemy, and they will feel my blade's edge!" Brave shouted.

Desmond placed a hand on Uni's shoulder "I agree that Brave was the only Felon that was redeemable, Uni. But this is not him, this is just a husk taken over by someone else. The only things we can do to avenge the old him is to bring death to this current Brave."

"Is this… all I can do for you now!?" Uni questioned.

"I don't care what you try, you'll all die by my blade!" Brave called out, before moving forward.

Desmond transformed and created a large broadsword and blocked the incoming attack. "Move." Red Heart stated, as the others scattered around. Red Heart jumped back as an incoming barrage of projectiles came close. Forcing the CFW to hold his arms up in an attempt to block the attacks, the smoke that came from the impacts and explosions created an opening for the melee fighters to attack. The CFW took a bit of damage after several quick attacks from the party, after the smoke cleared, Brave was finally able to go back on the offensive. Deciding to take out the ranged fighters first he charged Uni. Catching her slightly off guard, Brave swung his sword at her. But before it could connect, Red Heart quickly moved to Uni and tossed her back several yards. Brave finished his swing, but something was off, he felt no connection. He looked down to see Red Heart standing, with a smirk on his face and some electricity flowing around his midsection.

"Hmm, intriguing." Vert muttered.

"Changing into electricity, just before the sword could hit him, taking no damage." Noire pondered.

"That's good and all girls but we still need to kick this piece of trash in the dirt!" Blanc shouted.

In anger Brave swung his weapon toward Red Heart, but the CPU caught the weapon with his hand. Fire erupted from it, melting the weapon in half. Red Heart then formed his hand blade and sliced a leg off Brave. After a short cry, the CFW knelt, placing the broken sword on the ground to hold him up. "Gaaah! Lowly CPU, how dare you force me to bend my knee to you…" Brave yelled.

"Uni, end this!" Noire commanded.

"But…" Uni hesitated.

"Don't hesitate! Shoot!" Noire stated.

"B-But… this isn't the Brave that I know…" Uni said.

"All the more reason to kill him, this Brave is just a shell! If you don't I will!" Red Heart shouted.

A disembodied voice spoke "Does your resolve waver this easily?"

"Th-that… Is that you, Brave?" Uni questioned.

"The promise to bring joy to this world's children… I remember…" Brave answered.

"R-Right. I promised you that!" Uni spoke up.

"Then finish this fight. Use force to rmove all who would stand in the way of fulfilling that promise!" Brave stated.

"Force…" Uni repeated quietly.

"The being before you is no longer me, rather, a tool of destruction that is using my physical form…" Brave said.

"I'm sorry. I was acting weak. But you're right… I won't let this stop me from protecting the children's future!" Uni responded.

"Well said. Now, come!" Brave commanded.

"About time you buck up." Red Heart stated, happy to see her resolve back.

With a yell Uni fired a large blast at the body of Brave that started to take chunks off the CFW. And with a cry the body of Brave exploded. "Fantastic. Learn to follow your resolve, wherever it may lead you. I know you will let me rest in peace." The disembodied Brave spoke.

"I'm sorry. This is the last time I will give you pause. I'll be fine from now on…" Uni stated.

Red Heart reverted back to his human form "It was nice to hear from you again, Brave. Wherever you are."

"And again, I trust you implicitly. Farewell, Uni… Desmond…" Brave spoke before disappearing.

"Thank you, Brave…" Uni said quietly.

"Let's get a move on. The last one, in Leanbox. Vert, where is she at?" Desmond asked.

"Chika told me that she is in the Gapain Field." Vert answered.

"Ok, then let's get going everyone. We're almost done." Nepgear stated as she started walking.

* * *

The party arrived in the Leanbox dungeon and pushed through the place taking out the monsters that stood in their way. After some progress they found Magic, underling and Warechu were with her. It appeared that they were in conversation, the party caught what seemed to be the tail end of it. "I see. If you cannot abide by my will, or the will of our goddess, then I will end your pain now." They heard Magic speak as she raised an arm to fire off and attack. Before the two could move, someone grabbed them. After being dropped on the ground, they looked up to see Desmond covered in a light-blue aura as his body sparked with electricity.

Desmond looked at the girl as memories of the nightmare he saw came racing back to him, what Underling did in it. Anger quickly rose through him as he formed his hand blade while holding Underling by the throat. He growled as he raised his hand up, preparing to strike. "Die" he stated coldly and brought his arm downward.

"Desmond, don't!" IF yelled just in time for the young man to stop his hand just inches from Underling's eye.

Underling could see the man take a deep breath as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he appeared to be a lot calmer. "She has saved your life twice now, be thankful. Now get out of here." He deadpanned as he stood back up "That goes for you too, rat." The two ran off after that. "How stupid could you be Magic? Trying to kill off an ally of yours like that, it would just make it harder on you."

"CPUs… What brings you here?" Magic questioned.

"Our desire to stop you, of course. I cannot stand idly by while you threaten my beautiful Leanbox." Vert answered.

"And we still haven't paid you back properly for last time…" Blanc stated.

"I see. So you have come to die. Allow me to grant that wish." Magic said.

"Pretty bold of you to boast after being defeated by us before." Noire commented.

"This form was blessed by our goddess. You will prove to be no challenge whatsoever." Magic stated.

"Oooh! In my industry, they call that the "boastful villain's final words" flag. Our victory is assured!" Neptune pointed out.

"I fought and got stronger all because I lost to you… Let me show you how far I've come by defeating you!" Nepgear added.

"I do wonder how many times I have to kill you for you to remain dead Magic. So, let me end you again." Desmond stated before powering up into his HDD. This time a few of his processors looked more like Vert's "Prepare to attack everyone." He moved his hand out in front of him, as a vortex of wind, tornado like in nature, surrounded Magic. "Now!" He shouted as the ranged fighters shot off attacks, most hitting their target. The CQC fighters closed in and right before they reached the CFW Red Heart brought down the vortex. They landed their attacks as Magic still held her arms up that were previously blocking the wind. After taking several shots Magic finally got her bearings back, and then went on the offensive. She kicked IF aside and slashed Nepgear back. Magic then a combo attack from Neptune and Noire, fending the both off. After pushing them back, a burst of wind knocked her back. Red Heart moved forward a large blade in his right hand as he held his left outstretched. He moved the wind to intense speeds around the CFW, lifting her into the air. He then raised his blade upward and shot it toward the CFW, slicing off Magic's right arm from the elbow. She groaned in pain. "You really thought you could defeat us? Really? That showing of yours was truly pathetic." He used electrokinesis to lift Magic's scythe into the air, moving it to remove the lower half of her body. Magic cried out in pain. Red Heart dropped her scythe and created a javelin like spear and threw it into Magic's heart. Flames erupted from it burning her to ash. Red Heart transformed back.

"Looks like you changed again." Vert commented.

"Yes, well this time I drew more power from Leanbox. It appears the proximity of the Sharicites help how much extra power I can pull from it." Desmond responded.

"Game, set, crash. We rule!" Neptune stated.

"Yes, now we need to stop the Deity of Sin." Nepgear added.

"Let's go back to Planeptune's basilicom and report back to the Oracles." Noire stated.

"Okay, let's go." Desmond added as the party began to leave the place.

* * *

The party made it back to the Planeptune basilicom, once they entered Histoire spoke to them. "The Four Felons have been defeated."

"Yes. All that remains is…" Nepgear responded.

"Beating the stuffing out of the final boss!" Neptune interjected.

"Try to be at least twenty percent more serious Neptune." Desmond stated as he flicked her forehead lightly.

"So? Any updates on the Deity of Sin's movements?" Noire asked.

"Has she finished fusing to the graveyard already?" Marvy questioned.

"Slowly but surely, she is inching closer to completing her fusion. Estimates indicate that over half of the graveyard is now under her direct control." Histoire answered.

"Stepping into the Gamindustri Graveyard will be like stepping into her body. Expect a lot of resistance." Chika commented.

"Not like we have any other choice." Nepgear added.

"Yeppers. We gotta do this, no matter what." Neptune said cheerfully.

"She must die…" Desmond muttered with clinched fists and closed eyes.

"Such brave CPUs…" Histoire stated.

"No need to hype ourselves up now. It's late, so we better wait until tomorrow morning to head off." IF commented.

"Aww, tomorrow? No way am I gonna be able to sleep with this level of tension…" Red whined.

"Yeah, totally! Jeez, you just had to go and rain on our parade, huh?" Ram added.

"But if you don't go to sleep, your body will be really tired and slow tomorrow." Compa rebutted.

"Oh, I got just the ticket!" Neptune cut in, as she lured everyone into her room. "Pow! Games! They're fun AND they relieve stress for a good night's log-sawing. Three birds, one rock."

"Huh. Even though it's coming from Neptune, that's not a terrible idea, actually." Noire stated.

The CPUs grouped up together and the Candidates did as well. The Candidates played on their handhelds while the CPUs argued on which console to play. "But since we're at MY house, we're gonna use MY ultimate Planeptune game console!" Neptune shouted.

"Wait. If we're playing together, we need party games. Lowee's console is built entirely around those." Blanc pointed out.

"Such shallow reasoning. All you do is wave sticks at the screen with your controller." Vert stated.

"What?" Blanc questioned with a hint of anger.

"For the greatest of all party games, one needs only play Each Party, the greatest game Leanbox ever made. We even contracted a famous manga artist to handle the unique character designs, and…" Vert got cut off.

"You're kidding me. Good art doesn't matter if the game's on a console that crashes whenever you turn it on." Noire fired. "If we're making comparisons, then nothing beats Lastation. Our lineup covers every genre under the sun. Look at all our games! LOOK! My console has full network features so we can challenge gamers worldwide!"

"Poseur." Blanc quickly stated.

"Indeed. Leanbox brought online gaming services into the mainstream with far grater success than anyone else." Vert commented.

"And Lowee did motion controls before either of you wannabe hacks." Blanc added.

"Need I remind you that we offer our online services free of charge? Ahem… FREE! Do you understand?" Noire pointed out. "Which land was it again that charges people to log into some pretty unreliable severs, hmm? And I'm pretty sure most of a certain someon's motion control games were labeled "shovelware." Why, compared to those sad sacks, Lastation's console only does everything."

"I dare you to say that shit to my face, you pigtailed brat!" Blanc said as she started to get angry.

"Mehhhhh… Let's just use mine." Neptune spoke up.

"How dare you speak ill of my precious console! This means war! A war of the consoles!" Vert demanded.

The four started to fight each other, well mostly just yelling at one another as the pulled and slapped at each other.

The Candidates were getting along as they played their games. "What're you playing, Uni?" Nepgear asked.

"Oh, this is a hunting game. You play with friends and hunt giant monsters in a vaguely realistic manner." Uni answered. "Didn't your last console make a big splash with some kind of sci-fi online game? It's kind of similar."

"Ohh, I see. That sounds neat." Nepgear responded.

"I know, right? S-So… I mean, if you really want, maybe I'll play this with you…" Uni stuttered as she spoke.

"Goodness, really? Thanks! How about we all play? What do you say, Rom? Ram?" Nepgear said with excitement.

"Yeah, I wanna…" Rom stated.

"Meh! I guess if you're begging…" Ram added.

"Yippee! So Uni, what other games are big in Lastation right now?" Nepgear questioned.

"Hmm, well there's another game like this one where you're some kind of freedom warrior or something." Uni answered.

"Lowee's biggest game is obviously Pocketed Monstrosities. You catch and force monsters to kill each other, yay!" Ram interjected.

"Uh-huh… I got a Psycho Monstrosity recently that was rated 5V…" Rom added.

"No way! Ugh, that's so lame… I want one that awesome…" Ram whined.

"Um… I can trade you the parents I used to make it… They're both rated 4V… Then you can make one…" Rom offered.

"Whoa, awesome! Rom, I love you times infinity!" Ram shouted.

"How about Planeptune? Anything making waves?" Uni asked.

"Not waves, but we did give this one game a 60 million credit budget to make a realistic sandbox-type game. Working as a forklift operator and using my in-game pay to buy trinkets from vending machines was so fun!" Nepgear answered.

"Uh-huh. Right… Sounds like a hardcore sim…" Uni responded, before looking toward their sisters still fighting "Are they ever going to stop arguing?"

"We only have the one TV, so I think it's fair to settle it with a game of rock, paper, scissors…" Nepgear suggested.

"Yeah. No need to argue that much over games." Uni added. "But this is relaxing in its own way. All thanks to games."

"Yep. Arguing over your favorite games, which console is the best… It's all in good fun." Nepgear stated. "Let's hurry up and bring peace back to our world, so people can argue over trivial stuff like that again."

Desmond and IF sat next to each other on the other side of the room looking at the spectacle. "Do you think we should stop them?" IF questioned.

"Nah, they're not hurting anyone… at least not that much. But you would think that they'd try to be a little more civil, like the Candidates. But I guess it's not that easy for them." Desmond responded.

"Not after fighting each other for years on end. As long as they finish their little squabble before we leave in the morning." IF stated.

Desmond forced IF to look at him as he moved closer and kissed her. Pulling away he gave her a bright smile "Love you"

IF's face exploded in redness "D-D-Don't do that." She demanded in a hushed tone.

"What's wrong with kissing my girlfriend?" he asked with a smug look.

"T-That's not what I'm talking about… The whole love thing… it's embarrassing…" she muttered as she was being pulled closet to him, while she fidgeted slightly.

"I'd figured you'd take it more that way. Nothing like Neptune in that regard. But I do love you so I'm not going to keep from saying it just because you think it's a little embarrassing." He stated as he hugged her.

She took a deep breath before speaking "Fine, just maybe wait a little bit before saying so loud around the others. Let me get used to it."

"Okay, I can deal with that. At least for a little bit." He responded and lifted her face upward "Now where's mine?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I think you know what I mean sweetie…" he answered vaguely.

Once she realized, her face turned a little redder for a few moments as she looked down. She then let out a breath and looked him in the eyes and gave him the sweetest smile he'd seen from her "I love you too…" she said barely loud enough for him to hear it.

"Thanks for that." He couldn't help but smile at her. Then came a flying Nep from the scuffle. Before she could hit the wall Desmond reached up and caught her. "That's not the wall you should be breaking Neptune."

"Hahaha." She laughed as she rubbed the back of her head "I know, but it's not my fault, those three tossed me. And, thanks for catching me Dez."

"No problem honey." He placed her on her feet and stood up "Let's go stop them before anything else happens."

* * *

 **I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. And again sorry it took so long to get out, hopefully I can get back on a better schedule for the next one. Leave a review and let me know what you thought. And as always have a great day.  
**


	18. Chapter 18

**Welcome to another chapter in my story. I've been busy but it is nice to finally get this out.  
**

 **RayGaming: You're probably not the only one. We'll just have to see how it goes.**

 **RedBurningDragon: I feel like a team of 10+ people would decimate most opponents. I also wanted to show the power difference between the fist and second fights with the felons. I'm glad you enjoyed it.**

 **Blue555Nexus: Well, get ready for Blue Heart. I hope you liked what I did with the entrance of this form. Power over space and time sounds rather op but also cool, so, nice. Thanks for the support.**

 **And26169: I'm glad that you've enjoyed my story. I'm also pleased to hear that you enjoy Desmond. I know OCs or other characters with dead families are a bit cliche, but I think it's what you do with a charater's trauma that makes it work. I wanted Desmond the initial shock of suddenly being in a new world to shake him from the depressed state that he was in his world. And even after gaining joy in Gamindustri, the pain of losing others still lingers in the back of his mind. Which causes his loss of control within himself, trying to keep all that he has left. Sorry for rambling a little there. As for OCs in HDN fics. I think that people who at least half try can make decent OCs, some I've seen were just bad. But I've defiantly seen more good.  
**

* * *

The sun shone through the windows of the basilicom as the attendants within started to wake. Desmond opened his eyes as he looked toward the ceiling, he let out a heavy sigh "Today's the day… Time to finish this." As he started to rise out of bed, he felt something weighing on him. As he looked down he saw a little bit of purple under his blanket. Removing it he saw Neptune laying on him, sleeping. He smiled as he moved downward and kissed her head before trying to wake her up. "Neptune, time to get up…" he spoke into her ear.

All she did was shift around slightly, as she stayed asleep. He started to shake her "Wake up Neptune. We have a war to end today." He moved her face upward, so it was toward his. Her eyes opened barely "O-Oh… H-Heyo Dez… Good m-morning…" she started to fall back asleep, until Desmond flicked her nose causing her to jump up. "Oww. That was rude Dez…" she then stuck her tongue at him.

He then grabbed her sides and began to tickle her, as she tried to get away Desmond pulled her into a hug before she could escape. "So, what are you doing sleeping in my room?"

"Uh… I guess I just walked in here after getting up in the middle of the night. You're cozy ya know, I uh… kinda couldn't help it." She gave a small laugh as she rubbed the back of her head with that explanation.

"That does sound like you. Oh, well can't do anything about it now. We need to get ready for today. So, go get ready and I'll start on breakfast. Ok honey." He stated.

"Yaaay! You're the best Dez! Love ya!" she cheered as she dashed out of the room.

Shortly after Neptune left, a knock at the door was heard. "Come in." the young man called out.

The door opened and IF walked in. "Hey… Good morning." She said a bit timidly.

"Hey, is there something wrong?" he asked as she sat on the bed next to him.

"Not really, I'm just a little worried…" she answered.

"About what?" he questioned.

"Later, the fight… I've almost lost you before… I don't know if I could go through another one of those scares." She spoke as a few tears started to fall "I-I don't know what I'd do if something really did happen to you. So promise me you'll keep your anger under check, that you won't lose your mind and go berserk like the last time we fought her. It won't be as easy this time."

He pulled her close and ran his hand down the back of her head. "Everything is going to be fine. I'm not going anywhere, and I'll do my best to keep my anger down. But, I want you to be safe. Stay back for parts of this fight. You're not a CPU so you don't have as high of a defense as we do. I know she'll have some powerful attacks, I don't want you getting mixed up in that okay."

With a few tears still falling, she looked up with a smile "I-I'll do my best to. But I can't guarantee that I'll stay back that much. You know I like a fight just as much as the next person." She chucked a little.

"I know you do sweetie." They sat together for a few minutes in silence, just enjoying each other's company. "I wish I could do this forever."

"Me too. But…?" she questioned.

"I kinda promised Neptune that I'd make breakfast If she got ready, so I need to do that. And we need to get ready for later anyways. So I suppose we should get to it." He responded before giving her a kiss and the two walked out of the room.

* * *

The group was ready a couple hours later and ready to leave. They all gathered together and Histoire readied to send them off. "Be safe all of you. I wish for your success." She spoke. She then transported them to the Gamindustri Graveyard.

The party moved through the place trying to get back to where they last saw The Deity of Sin. As they were walking, a voice yelled out. "Found you." The party turned and saw Underling standing and Warechu running up behind her.

"Again? Really?" IF questioned with disinterest.

"It's dangerous out here. You better run while you can." Noire advised.

"Yeah, you tell her, chu. Compa, whon't you warn her, too?" Warechu commented.

"Shut up, rat! They killed Magic, so I gotta make 'em pay!" Underling shouted.

"Her?" Nepgear said with a questioning look.

"Bah! Leave us alone, wouldja? We're focused on taking out the final boss right now, not you." Neptune fired at the green haired girl.

"We've no time to waste on you." Blanc added.

"Shut up, I said! I don't give this rat's ass about that Deity of shit thing!" Underling yelled back.

"H-Hey! What're you saying, chu!?" Warechu asked.

"You get me? Now you dumb broads stay put so I can whoop your skinny little asses…" Underling started.

"That's cute, you think you're a threat." Desmond said as he walked forward and used his electrokinesis to pull Underling's pipe from her. After grabbing the pipe, he hit her in the gut with it and then proceded to hit her head with an electrified attack that nearly knocked her out. He then turned to Warechu and fired an electric shot at the rodent. He then grabbed the rat and smashed it into the ground firing another large blast of electricity. After that he walked back to the party "That was a nice warm up, let's get moving."

"Agggghhh…" Underling cried as she tried to move "Dammit! Even… at the very end… I lose."

"Man… We were demolished. We didn't… even get a chance… chu…" Warechu added.

"Haven't you had enough?" IF questioned.

"We need to keep moving." Nepgear reiterated.

"Wait! A-Aren't you gonna… you know… finish us off?" Underling asked. "I mean… I might come back later and put you in a chokehold in the middle of the last boss fight…"

"I'd like to see you try." Uni stated firmly.

"Yeah, I mean first she'd have to actually make it there on her own two feet, with passing out with that possible concussion that she has. And even if she did then it'd be a quick one, two, no more hands for underling." Desmond stated in a sarcastic tone to make fun of the girl.

"That's right Dez, and I'd do some sweet donkey kick and beat you up fair and square again!" Neptune shouted.

"It may sound strange, but I trust you enough to believe you wouldn't do something like that." Nepgear stated.

"Tch… Hell if I care. I'm too tired, anyway. I can barely talk." Underling responded.

"Then why bring it up in the first place?" Desmond questioned with a sigh. "On a more serious note, you two need to get out of here. It won't be safe for either one of you."

"Why would you want us to be safe, chu?" Warechu asked.

"This place is beat. Screw everything…" Underling interjected.

"Looks like she's taking my advice, you should follow." Desmond stated.

"O-Okay, well… T-Thanks for not killing us, chu." Warechu said before running off to catch up with Underling.

The party continued on and after a bit of walking they came to where they last fought the Deity of Sin. "Here we are again." Neptune stated.

"Yes. But this time…" Nepgear started.

The party looked on as they saw the reformed body of the Deity, Red was the first to speak up "Uh, She looks freakier than before."

"I suppose that is the new form she has chosen to take." Vert suggested.

"Isn't it… kinda small…?" Rom asked.

"Boooring. I thought she was gonna be a giant robot shooting lasers all over the place or something." Ram interjected.

"I wouldn't dismiss it just yet. That could be all the power she's absorbed, concentrated in one body." IF pointed out.

"Condensing that much power is no joke, nyu." Broccoli added.

"If it's true, we'll need to be on guard." Desmond stated.

"You… Again…" The Deity spoke out to the party.

"Been a while. Gee, you've certainly grown to be quite the… looker, huh?" Noire said.

"Such insults invite death… How odd that you wish to die now, when the world shall soon perish." Arfoire stated.

"We're here to prevent that!" 5pb. yelled.

"Yeah! We're gonna stop you!" Compa added.

"You turn your back to the sweet blessing of death? Very well… Struggle until the very end…" The Deity spoke.

"Hmph. That's some big talk." Uni mocked.

"Overconfidence leads to defeat." Blanc added.

"Before you die along with this world, I will grant you endless despair…" The deity started. "For I am destruction incarnate. My manifestation is inevitable. Thus, destruction is inevitable."

"Excuuuuuse meeeee… If anyone is destruction incarnate, it would be me. Just, I use my powers on a much smaller scale… because, you know. I don't want to destroy the whole world, the whole point of stopping you." Desmond stated in a slightly joking tone.

"You sure do like to break a thing or two don't ya Dez. But gimme a rain check on all that depressing stuff. My brain is filled with sunshine and pudding, so yeah!" Neptune said in a cheerfully.

"We will defeat you, and we will bring back hope to Gamindustri!" Nepgear yelled.

The battle stared and Desmond transformed into Red Heart. The ranged fighters took their stances and fired a volley of shots at Arfoire, but none hit as she moved out of the way and toward the party. Blanc moved to intercept the attack Arfoire was about to dish out. Vert jumped in from behind Blanc, forcing Arfoire to jump back a couple of feet. The Deity spun around her weapon, deflecting Vert's. A large blast from Uni's gun moved toward the enemy, but never made contact as the Deity moved. As she tried to attack the ranged fighters, a large wall of fire formed in front of her. "At last, it is time to finally kill you Deity of Sin… Arfoire." Red Heart spoke with venom in his words.

"How quaint, you think you can stop me, now perish." The Deity spoke before moving toward him with a thrusting attack. Red Heart using a broadsword deflected the attack upward and attempted an elbow to the gut, but missed as Arfoire spun to the side. She brought her weapon down toward his head but he was gone, and a blade was in his place. Neptune pushed back against the Deity forcing her to stager for a second. Noire moved in from one side, Nepgear from the other and Red Heart from the back. Arfoire lept upward as the three clashed weapons in her stead. She moved down quickly with a kick to Nepgear, and then throwing Neptune. Arfoire deflected a few incoming ice attacks as she simultaneously dodged Noire's attacks. A plasma blast came from Uni, the Deity was able to direct it along her weapon to hit Noire. She then had to move upward as another large blast of fire came at her, hitting her legs. After landing back on the ground she moved toward Red Heart as he held a scythe. Going back and forth for a couple of seconds, Blanc and Vert tag teamed the Deity from the back. Almost getting to her Arfoire deflected Vert's weapon and swept Blanc's legs from under her and turned around just in time to block Red Heart's attack from decapitating her. After pushing the man back Neptune tried to attack but her efforts were blocked and she ended up getting kicked into Red Heart. Arfoire then not wasting any time moved toward the two, bringing down her weapon as it was knocked to the side. IF stood with her katars barred, she rushed the Deity with a flurry of attacks. Arfoire blocked the onslaught with ease, the two then engaged in a blade lock. After a moment of pushing back and forth, Arfoire took the upper hand and forced IF into a stager. Once IF lost her defense, Arfoire took the opportunity to quickly sliced IF's arms and legs. Arfoire then pushed the weapon through IF's shoulder, then made a quick spin of the weapon and thrusted it into the girl's gut. IF screamed out as blood poured from her wounds. Arfoire pulled her weapon back as she turned to the others.

"IF!" "Iffy!" many of the party members shouted. Arfoire was forced to move back as fire neared her face.

Vert and Blanc stood between Arfoire and IF "Whatever you're gonna do, do it quick!" Blanc shouted.

"Thank you." Red Heart quickly moved to IF "Don't move, this is gonna hurt sweetie." He then held his hands over the wounds and increased the heat in them, trying to cauterize her wounds as best as possible. She cried out as he did it, coughing up some blood as well. Neptune grabbed the girl's right hand.

IF reached her left hand for Red Heart's face, placing it on his cheek "I-I'm… sorry… ugh… this hurts…" Tears started to pour down her face and her skin was getting pale. "I…I'm scared Desmond… I don't want to die…"

"We're not going to let you die, just stay awake." Red Heart responded still trying to stop the bleeding.

"I-I love you…" IF said before she passed out from the pain and blood loss, as Red Heart stopped her bleeding.

"No, come on! Stay awake IF!" Red Heart shouted in a bit of a panic. He then placed a finger on her neck, letting out a heavy sigh as he felt a pulse. He kissed her forehead before standing up "Compa, get her out of here and treat her the best you can. We'll finish this fight."

"O-Okay Dez. Hang in there Iffy." Compa stated as she picked up her best friend. As she looked at Red Heart she could see a tear fall before he stood back up.

"Are you done back there!?" Blanc yelled as diverted an attack from Arfoire.

"We're all good to go back here! But you girls might want to move." Neptune advised as she kept an eye on Red Heart as a vortex a fire moved about him. Seconds later a multitude of lightning strikes landed in the nearby area. Vert and Blanc moved, to what they hoped, was a safe distance.

"You will pay for what you have done Arfoire!" Red Heart growled "I'll kill you a thousand times over, you Deity of Shit!" The density of energy in the area increased heavily.

"Meaningless words are all they are. You can do nothing to me." The Deity taunted as she raised her weapon.

The lightning strikes increased in volume, a few struck large pillars of trash that were brought crashing to the ground. Red Heart raised a hand as a massive bolt of continues lightning landed on him. It was too bright for any of them to see what exactly was happening. By the time the lightning disappeared they saw the man standing where he was to begin with, but he was different. The red processors, and pulsating lines on his body all changed to a bright blue and his hair turned to a dark blue. "Those are the words of a fool." Blue Heart created two beam sabers.

"A change in color will do you nothing. Now I will show you to your doom." Arfoire stated before moving toward the man. A light blue aura moved around Blue Heart. By the time Arfoire reached where the young man stood, he was gone. "Where did he go?" she questioned as she saw a blade come toward her. Barely able to get her weapon in place, she was forced to take a few steps back to gather herself. Blue Heart slowly walked toward her, his weapons changed into bladed tonfas. The Deity readied herself for an attack, Blue Heart started into a slow jog that turned into a run toward her. She was about to start a preemptive attack, until the young man disappeared. As she tried to locate him, she was hit from the side with the blunt end of the tonfa. Before she could recover, she was hit five more times, each from a different direction. The final hit of the barrage was an electric strike to the side of the head.

"You are too slow to compete with me. I'll now remove you from this world." Blue Heart stated without emotion.

"Never! I won't lose to a lowly CPU like you! I am Arfoire The Deity of Sin, I will bring destruction to this world!" The Deity screamed out.

"I'm done listening to you. It's time for you to disappear, forever." Blue Heart put away his weapons as he raised a hand to the sky. "I call to the sky, to all of creation. From the smallest atom to the largest mountain." The ground shook and wild winds started to generate "Move, move to your heart's content, give to me the power, the energy that you create. Let me disintegrate the enemy that stands before me. Fulmen!" As Blue Heart shouted black lightning moved to his raised from the surrounding area. It then exited his other arm that was pointed at the Deity. The black lightning hit Arfoire before she could see it move, she could feel the molecules of her body being torn apart. The cry that came from her was of that of excruciating pain. After a few seconds of the attack Blue Heart stopped the attack. Arfoire gasped for her breath, trying to stand back up. Blue Heart walked up to her as he picked up IF's katars that laid on the ground, part of the black lighting moved around the edges of the blades. "Time for you to enter you're eternal rest Arfoire." He stabbed the Deity in the gut with the left blade, he then removed the head of the Deity with the right. "Finally, it's finished." He felt the fatigue fall over him as he walked back to the group as he disengaged his transformation.

"That…" Nepgear started.

"Was…" Noire continued.

"Awesome!" Neptune cut in shouting. "Who would've guessed you would've gotten a new form this soon the fic."

"I'm glad your excited Neptune. But now isn't the time. Compa, how is IF doing?" Desmond asked.

"She's stabilized, thanks to the medicine we brought. But she needs to see a doctor soon to make sure she'll heal properly. And she'll won't be able to fight for a while either, or even walk without a crutch." Compa reported with a saddened smile.

"Thank goodness." He muttered as a small smile formed on his face. He bent down next to IF "We need to get her back to the basilicom." The ground started to rumble "Looks like we need to hurry."

"Nooo… Nooo… I won't die yet… I will destroy this world…" The Deity spoke as her body was being pulled back together.

"What… The hell!?" Desmond yelled as he stood back up. "Why aren't you dead!?"

"My will is what sustains me… not this body. I won't die until Gamindustri burns." Arfoire stated.

"She's still alive!?" Uni shouted.

"What do we do?" Ram questioned.

"I thought our feelings were supposed to defeat her." Nepgear commented.

"There… may be a way." Blanc stated.

"Huh… How sis…?" Rom asked.

"I read in some old tomes in my basilicom, long ago four CPUs were able to seal away the Deity…" Blanc started.

"I've read that as well… But if we're to do that." Noire piped up.

"Yes, the consequences may be dire, but it is something we must do." Vert added.

"Uhhh… I feel out of the loop. Hey, gals… Whatcha talkin' about? What do we need to do?" Neptune questioned. "Oh, wait! I remember now. I'm good."

"What do you mean, dire consequences?" Desmond asked.

"The CPUs who did this last, were never seen again. They gave their lives to seal Arfoire away." Blanc answered.

"Th-That means you all could disappear too." 5pb. said with slight worry.

"I just got you back you can't leave again sis." Uni stated.

"You can't do it Blanc, what if you disappeared too!? Huh!?" Ram shouted.

"Please… Don't Blanc…" Rom said.

"You can't leave, you're my wifeys!" Red called out.

"Neptune, please don't do this… Let me take your place instead!" Nepgear pleaded.

"No can-do Nep Jr. As the older sister and CPU, it's my job to do this." Neptune responded with a smile.

"No… No!" Desmond yelled. "I won't let you all do this. To rip you from your sisters, them knowing you won't return… I know what it's like to have a family, and to have one taken away. I can't let these girls go through that." He let out a sigh, as he straightened himself "I will do it instead. I have the power of you four and my own, that should be more than enough."

"Whaaaaat!?" Neptune exclaimed. "You can't do that…" before she could say anymore she was cut off.

"I'm not taking no for an answer, tell me how to do it." The young man stated.

"Okay, if you are willing…" Blanc spoke softly before whispering the information into his ear.

"Thank you, Blanc." He stated before he turned toward the Deity.

"You're coming back right?" Neptune asked, pulling on his shirt. The look of worry evident on her face as she gave an awkward smile.

"Of course, honey." He spoke before giving her a kiss. He then moved closer to the Deity. "Time for you to disappear." He transformed into Blue Heart and started pull Shares and other energy into him.

IF started to wake from all the excitement. She heard a few words spoken by Compa "I hope Dez doesn't disappear like the old CPUs…" Compa looked down to see IF attempting to get up. "Ahh, Iffy, don't move you're not completely healed yet."

IF was able to move just enough to see Blue Heart stand as an unfamiliar energy flowed around her. She tried to reach a hand out in his direction. "Des…mond… no…"

Blue Heart pulled in the energies as the processor above his left shoulder changed white color, the right shoulder purple, the processor on his left leg changed to green, and the right leg changed to a dark grey. The corresponding colors pulsed toward his torso. His eyes opened, instead of the usual blue irises. They were like light passing through a prism, a multitude of colors shone and moved through it. He held his arms partly out, electricity flowing around his right. Changing colors from yellow to blue, red, black and finally to white. Sparks of share energy were flying around it. Fire engulfed his left arm, the color of it turning golden.

The deity's body finally pulled itself back together. After picking her weapon back up she dashed toward the young man "DIE!" she yelled.

"This is your end. From the earth below to the sky above, take all evil that can be seen and erase it from existence" Share energy could be seen moving around the young man

"W-What!? Isn't this…" Noire started.

"Share resonance, yes." Blanc interrupted. "But, this isn't part of what I told him. I'm not sure how he's doing it."

"This truly is a rare occurrence." Vert stated.

"Wow, it's so pretty." Ram said while looking at it.

"Yes… pretty…" Rom agreed.

Nepgear and Uni just stared at the spectacle, unable to speak.

"Wow. There's so many sparkles in the sky!" Red exclaimed.

"This feels so… comforting." 5pb. said with a small smile.

"Just come back Dez…" Neptune muttered somberly to herself.

IF could feel a small amount of strength moving into her as she looked at what was happening.

Arfoire neared Blue Heart at a quick pace, only leaving a dozen yards between them. "with this holy light" Blue Heart spoke before moving his arms together "Evanescet!" he yelled, the combined white electricity and golden flames quickly surrounded both of them, as did the Share energy.

"Aaaaaaaaaa!" Arfoire screamed as she tried to attack the man. Her forward momentum was brought to a mere crawl, but she was able to push forward. Once she reached where the man was the two disappeared.

"Wh-Where did they go?" Compa questioned.

"They went to a separate dimension. It's where the Deity will remain." Blanc answered.

Several minutes passed, and he had not returned. "What's taking him so long?" Ram questioned trying not to let the worry into her voice.

"Don't worry… He said he'll be back. We just have to trust in him." Neptune stated, any of them could tell she was not up to her normal cheery demeanor.

An hour passed since the two disappeared. A small cry was heard from among them. "Big… brother isn't coming back isn't he…?" Rom questioned as she started crying.

"D-Don't cry Rom… Because if you do…" Ram responded before she started crying as well.

IF started to tear up as she laid on Compa's legs. "N-No… this can't… be happening…" she said before passing out from exhaustion.

Neptune kept her head downward, her bangs covering her eyes. The ground started to shake, catching the party off guard. "This place is starting to break, we need to leave!" Noire shouted. The party quickly moved toward the where they entered, and Histoire warped them back.

* * *

After arriving at the basilicom, the members of the party went to their rooms to rest, except for the three non-native CPUs who reported what happened. And Compa took IF to the hospital to ensure she wouldn't get any worse. The CPUs of White, Green, and Black, stood in front of the Oracles. The CPUs gave a report on what happened in the Graveyard. "So, it appears that we have lost Desmond." Histoire stated in a saddened tone.

"But in return for the CPUs." Kei pointed out.

"Yes, his sacrifice will be remembered." Mina commented.

"As sad as that is, I'm just glad my darling Vert is here." Chika added.

"I wonder how the other girls are taking it." Histoire pondered.

"Rom and Ram were upset…" Blanc spoke in monotone.

"I'm sure Uni is fine, and I don't know about Nepgear. But I'm a little worried about Neptune." Noire stated.

"Yes, she's hardly spoken a word since we've arrived back. It is quite unlike her." Vert added.

"Does IF know?" Histoire asked.

"I think so, but I'm not sure. Compa was with her, you could ask her when she gets back." Noire answered.

"Okay. I suggest that you all get some sleep before heading back to your nations, you've earned it." Histoire stated.

"Thank you for your hospitality Histoire," Blanc said before walking to the room that she shared with Rom and Ram. The other two CPUs pardoned themselves from the room afterward.

In Neptune's room, laid the CPU on her bed. She held her pillow to her chest as she stared at her ceiling. "Why… why Dez…" tears started to form as she tightened her hold on the pillow. "You said you'd be back… I shouldn't have let you do it…"

"You know he wouldn't have let you stop him." A voice came from the other end of the room.

Neptune quickly popped up, placing her slightly watery eyes on the owner of the voice. "N-Noire!? When did you get here?" she asked.

"If you'd pay attention, I was knocking at your door for the past few minutes straight. I even said I was coming in." Noire said as she walked and sat at the foot of Neptune's bed. "So, how are you doing?" She asked.

Neptune sat next to Noire and flashed her a smile "I'm doing just peachy."

"No, no. You can't expect me to believe that after what I saw." Noire responded. "And… I… want to be a better f-friend… So, trust in me more Neptune."

Neptune's smile disappeared as a sad expression took place. "It hurts Noire, more than any battle I've been in. H-He shouldn't have been the one to be taken away…" tears started to stream down her face.

"I don't expect it to be easy for you. Remember that he did it under his own will. Don't take what he did for granted, if he hadn't have done that… we would've been lost in that dimension, held forever as the seal for the Deity." Noire stated. "I'll do everything I can to help you during this time… Okay." She pulled Neptune into a hug.

Initially shocked by the embrace, Neptune then returned the hug "I… I…" She started to sob into Noire's shoulder. The two were still as Neptune let her emotions out. After a few minutes, Neptune regained some composure "W-What about Iffy? How is she gonna take it…? I don't even know if she knows…" she trailed off as she laid her head on Noire's shoulder.

"It'll be fine, we'll get to that when we see her. It's just something that we'll all have to take a day at a time." Noire stated as she pulled Neptune off her, sitting her up. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Neptune wiped her eyes "Y-Yeah, I will. I just need to rest for a while."

"Okay, if you need anything let me know." Noire stated before walking out of the room.

* * *

Several days later, IF was released from the hospital. To keep working at some level, she stayed at the basilicom to keep movement down to a limited, so she could heal. Nepgear walked into the room IF was staying in, carrying papers. "Here you go IF, thanks for doing this." Nepgear said as she placed the papers on the table next to the brunette.

"I should at least be doing this much. I'd like to do more, but that's not happening for a while longer." IF responded.

"So…" Nepgear started shifting slightly "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well, sometimes I feel a pain run through me. But that usually…" IF said as she was interrupted.

"No, I-I mean about… you know." Nepgear said, not making eye contact with the guild member.

IF felt a lump in her throat as she stopped taking, her face wavering for a second before she recollected herself "I-I'm fine, it'll be tough to get used to him not being here. But I'll just have to take it one day at a time."

"Okay, IF." Nepgear said as she moved toward the door "See you later."

After Nepgear exited the room, IF's fists clenched "Why did it have to end like this… was there someway we could have saved him?" she looked up at the ceiling "No, after the old CPU's advice failed, there was no other option was there." She looked back down as tears slowly dripped down her face "I just wish I could do something to bring him back."

A few hours later a knock came at the door opened "Hey Iffy, how's it going?" Neptune asked in her usual cheerful tone.

"Oh, hey Nep. What are you doing?" IF responded.

"I came to see if you wanted to take a break and play a game." She said with a smile.

"I can't, there's too much work to do. It would be nice if you'd help out at least a little." IF stated bluntly.

"Aww man. Well maybe we can try to brainstorm a way to get Dez back." Neptune said nonchalantly. IF almost dropped her pen when she heard that "I asked Noire if she knew a way, but she said that she'd have to do some research. But I thought we could…"

"Shut up!" IF yelled interrupting the purple haired CPU. She slammed a fist onto the desk, she shook slightly as she spoke. "The old CPUs were lost when they were sealed away! How can we expect for Desmond too! We have to face the fact that he isn't coming back!" for the next few moments there was just silence. IF regretted yelling at Neptune and kept her face forward, looking at the paper in front of her.

She felt a pair of arms wrap around her neck. "I know the chances are low if at all possible for this to happen. But I can't give up, if there is a chance I need to take it. I know you miss him just as much as I do… so please help me…" IF forced herself around to look at the CPU. She saw Neptune as tears poured down her face.

IF returned the hug "Of course I will." After a few seconds she pulled away looking into the CPUs face, wiping the tears away "You should stop crying, it doesn't fit you." She chuckled a little as she said that "I-I'm sorry for yelling like that. It was uncalled for."

"It's fine Iffy." Neptune pulled up a nearby chair "Let's get this done."

"Huh, really? You're gonna work?" IF asked.

"Hey, come on. You agreed to help trying to find a way to get Dez back. So I'll help ya with this." Neptune stated with a grin.

* * *

Blue Heart looked on as Arfoire closed in, as she reached him the two teleported. Once he realized that they did, Arfoire had connected her attack. Her spear had impaled the man through the gut. The Deity looked at him with a smile "You fool. This will only delay the inevitable. Once I kill you I will work on my resurrection."

Blue Heart cracked a smirk "Are you too blind to see what's around you?" Arfoire looked around to see the Share resonance still flowing around them. "The perfect weapon against an enemy of pure evil. I asked Histoire about this after reading it in some old texts. You will not be able to live through this." He grabbed her as fire and lightning poured onto her, causing a large amount of damage to befall her. After breaking free Arfoire moved back, taking her weapon with her. Blue Heart cauterized the wound with fire as he summoned two short swords. He went on the offensive, attacking the Deity with a flurry of strikes. Arfoire able to deflect most of the attacks, but between the attack from before and the Shares occasionally hitting her, were taking a toll. He held Arfoire's spear in a blade lock with his right blade. He quickly turned the left blade to a pistol firing a few shots into her leg. Once that happened, the Deity started to get desperate. She pulled back, with a limp as she started swinging wildly. Blue Heart was easily able to brush off the wide attacks. He materialized two beam sabers, he attacked around Arfoire's attacks, cutting her with each swing. Blue Heat sidestepped a thrust attack from the Deity. After he did he brought down his left sword on her arm, severing it just below the elbow. Using his right sword, he knocked Arfoire's spear and arm sideways. And followed up with the left again, removing the other arm of the Deity.

"No! No! I can't lose!" Arfoire screamed as she barely stood.

"This is where you end Deity." Blue Heart stated before kicking her into a large amount of Share energy. She screamed as she fell into it. After a few seconds of her being in it, she disappeared. "Finally…" Blue Heart reverted back as he sat on the ground. "Finally gone for good." He looked around at his surroundings "Uhhh… How am I gonna get back?" He questioned while rubbing the back of his head. "But I think some rest will be in order for now." He laid down as exhaustion laid heavily on his body and closed his eyes.

* * *

Six months had passed since the Deity of Sin was defeated. The nations were peaceful after they went through a period of rebuilding as they got rid of the remains of ASIC. It was a clear day in Planeptune, many people were walking through the streets. One man in particular caught the eye of someone. "Desmond!" A man called out, running toward him.

Desmond turned to the voice, recognizing it to be from Justin. A man he spared during a battle in the outskirts of Planeptune some time back. "Hey, what's up. It's been a while."

"Yeah, no joke. You've been MIA for six months, where've you been?" Justin asked.

"Huh? No way, it couldn't have been that long. I thought it was only there for like two or three weeks, maybe a month tops. Hmm… But my memory is a bit fuzzy since I left, so I guess it could be possible." Desmond responded.

"Yeah, you've been gone for six months. After the battle with the Deity of Sin, you disappeared. The CPUs told us that during the battle the Deity and you just vanished. Purple Heart said she didn't know if you'd be back, but she had faith that you would." Justin stated, as a smile formed on his face "And I did too. You're to dammed strong to keep down for the count just like that."

"Thanks for thinking so highly of me, I guess that means I'm doing my job right." Desmond let out a small chuckle "Well, it's good to see you my friend. So, how's the guild?" Desmond asked.

"It's been going well. Ever since ASIC was completely wiped out it's been smooth sailing." He answered.

"Good. How has IF been? Do you know?" Desmond questioned.

"Well… She's been, more distant I guess. She acts like her normal self while in middle of a job or in front of large groups. But when she's out of the spotlight, like when she sits in the café, she looks sad. She kinda stares off into space." Justin answered.

"Oh, boy. Sounds like I need to see her soon." Desmond commented.

"You probably should." Justin added.

"What about Neptune?" Desmond asked.

"Not much news. She's been either up in the basilicom, fighting monsters, or in one of the other nations." He answered.

"Well, I'll take my leave. Thanks for the info Justin. Bye." Desmond shook the other man's hand and left the area, making his way to the Basilicom.

* * *

After arriving at the basilicom, Desmond was greeted by many surprised staff members as they asked him questions. After a few minutes, he went into the elevator. He opened the door to the basilicom housing, walking the short distance from the door to the living room. Entering the living room he saw Neptune, siting on the couch playing something.

Her eyes widened as she stood, dropping her controller. "I…Is that really you Dez…" she asked as she inched toward him.

"I'm home." He simply answered, as he moved his arms to his sides.

Tears started to stream down Neptune's face as she ran into Desmond, knocking him to the ground. After hitting the ground she gave him a kiss and then put her arms around his waist in a hug. She was crying although she had a smile on her face. He laid their returning the embrace.

Nepgear rushed into the room "What's wrong Nept…" she started before stopping in her tracks for a couple of moments "Desmond!" she shouted as she quickly moved toward the two on the ground, placing her arms around the young man's neck. "We've missed you."

"I've missed you all too. Although it seems like it was longer for you all than it was for me." He stated before making an attempt to get up. Nepgear let go as he moved. Neptune held on, being forced to stand with the man.

"What do you mean?" Nepgear questioned.

"It's been six months since I left right?" he asked.

"Yes" she quickly answered.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that I was in that other dimension for a much shorter time than that. But after defeating Arfoire, my memories are quite fuzzy. So, I can't give a truly accurate time table." He stated.

"Well, it doesn't matter. No need to sweat about the small stuff, you're back now. Even if it did take you way to long. You know making us girls wait around isn't nice. I think reparations are in order." Neptune said as she looked upward, wiping away tears with one of her arms.

The small tome floated into the room "Greetings Desmond." She bowed slightly "It is good to see you again. Am I to expect that Arfoire is truly defeated now?"

"Yes, that is right." He said with a large grin, flashing a thumb up.

"Thank you. I am eternally grateful." Histoire stated. "I will call IF and Compa to come as soon as they can." She then floated off.

"Okay. Hey, Neptune. I like hugging as much as the next person, but I'd like to go sit on the couch. So, I need ya to either let go or walk with me." Desmond stated.

"I'mma gonna hang on ya. You ain't getting away that easily buster." She responded giving a large grin. He smiled as the two walked over to the couch and sat down.

* * *

After about an hour and a half later the front door to the housing area opened. "Histoire, Compa and I are here. What's the emergency?" the two walked in as they entered the living room the two stopped. Desmond stood in the middle of the room, smiling at the two.

After a moment of surprise Compa flashed a bright smile. She then looked toward IF. IF shook and looked a little pale, like she was looking at a ghost.

"H-How are you here? You disappeared… Gone, without a trace. So, how are you suddenly here!? Is it even really you? Does my mind hate me so much that I'm starting to see images of you!" Her body tensed up as tears fell and she slowly moved toward him.

"Iffy…" Compa said a little worried but IF didn't hear anything that Compa said.

"It is me, I'm really here IF. You are seeing no illusion." Desmond answered.

"I want to believe you, but I can't yet…" she continued to get closer to the young man. "You said that you'd be here, that you wouldn't leave. And then you disappear! And I couldn't do a thing while it happened, I was useless!" her hands clenched at her sides "I couldn't do a thing as I watched you vanish in front of me!" She stood in front of the man "How do you think that affected me, y-you idiot." She threw light fists at the man's chest. After a few moments she let her fists lay on him as she stood in silence.

"Are you okay now?" he asked. IF nodded, as she looked up she saw a few tears running down his cheek. "I'm sorry sweetie." He hugged her tightly. "I never would have thought that it would be so hard on you. Of course, it wasn't my plan to leave, or to be gone for so long when I did. So, can you forgive me?" she returned the embrace.

"Of course… you idiot…" she said softly. She then felt someone else touching her, as Compa hugged the two from the side not wanting to miss out too much on the reunion.

"I'm glad you're back Dez. Iffy was really down in the dumps while you were gone. Oh, I'm going to go make a cake for a celebration." Compa then let go and moved toward the kitchen.

"I love you." He stated bending down slightly

"Love you too." She responded just before their lips met. After pulling away the two sat on the couch next to each other. As they sat there, a purple haired being ran across the area and jumped into the two of them, hugging them.

"I love ya, honey. But please don't jump onto us like that." Desmond commented as he felt a small pain coming from his gut.

"Seriously, Nep." IF agreed.

"Fine, but only for a little bit." Neptune stood up "So, I guess you two had your heart felt reunion. Let's do something together."

"Compa is making a cake." Desmond commented.

"And when I mean do something. I meant, do something here and wait for cake." Neptune said with a smile.

"Of course, you did." Desmond said with a smile "So, what do you want to do?"

* * *

 **That is the end of the chapter and this arc of the story. I'm gonna do a few chapters that take place between rebirth 2 and 3, then I'll start with rebirth 3's story. It's crazy to think that I've had this story on the site for over a year now. It's crazy to think how fast time flies. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, leave a review and let me know what you think. As always have a good day.  
**


	19. Chapter 19

**Welcome back to my story. Sorry about the long delay, I've been extremely busy these past months. With life, games and being stopped with writers block. I haven't even had much time to read other storys. But enough of that and on to the reviews.**

 **RedBurningDragon: I would say Fulman is close to indignation, but it first moves through the user, Desmond, before hitting the target. I'm glad you enjoyed the ending.**

 **Blue555Nexus: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. The next few chapters will be more filler-esqe but will have moments to tie into the next arc. The last question is a little tough. Red Heart has more physical strength with a higher array of** ** **fire magic** , while Blue Heart is faster and has more finesse and a higher array of electric magic at his disposal. So each has their advantages in combat. I probably will make another mode for him eventually but not sure when, it might not be in the next arc, not sure yet.**

 **MarioBrosFTW: I'm glad you enjoyed it. As for other OCs into my story, I've thought about the idea before. They would most likely be one off fight characters or would be only seen once in a while like a cameo. So, I would say it depends on what you, or anyone else, had in idea.**

 **Derpenkampfwagen: I'm happy to see that you enjoyed my story. I might make another story in the distant future, but for now it's updates for this one.**

 **Thank you everyone for your reviews. They really motivate me to work on these. So, again thanks.**

* * *

The sun rose on the day after Desmond's return. Desmond, IF and Neptune fell asleep on the couch watching a movie. As he woke, he carefully moved the girls to keep from disturbing their sleep. He moved over to the kitchen and started to make breakfast, pancakes and eggs, for everyone. As he was cooking, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. "Good morning." IF said with a somewhat tired voice.

"Good morning sweetie. Did I wake you up?" he asked.

She let go of him and moved beside him "A little bit. Your going to see the other nations, right?" she questioned.

"Yeah, need to let the others know I'm back." He answered.

"I wish you didn't have to leave just after getting back. But I know this is something that you have to do." She said as she began putting food on a plate.

"Thanks for understanding, I'll try to be as fast as possible." He stated, giving her a smile.

"Good morning, you two." Nepgear greeted as she walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Gear." The two responded.

"Did you sleep well?" the young man asked Nepgear.

"Yes. Thanks for making breakfast." She responded.

Desmond turned off the stove and turned around "Go ahead and eat. I'm going to get Neptune up."

"Okay." Nepgear said as she moved toward the counter.

As he got to the couch he saw the purple haired girl leaning on one of the arms to the couch. He shook the girl's shoulder "Wake up."

She groaned a little as she moved slightly "I'm still tired…" she murmured.

"Either get up or no breakfast." He threatened.

Neptune grabbed Desmond's shirt as she half way off the couch. "N-No… I'll get up…" she started to slip off, falling on the ground. "Oww…" she looked up at the young man "Meanie…" she stuck her tongue at him.

"I love you too honey." He responded nonchalantly, as he moved her so she'd be sitting up. He than gave her a kiss on the cheek.

She gave him a bright smile "Can you bring my food here?" she asked.

"No, you need to go to the table. Now get up." He answered as he stood back up.

"Awww… come on…" she pouted "Can you carry me then. I'm still too tired."

Desmond let out a small sigh "Fine, just this time. You shouldn't be so lazy." He lifted her up, bridal style, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thanks Dez, you're the best." She stated with a smile, before giving him quick kiss.

* * *

After eating breakfast and getting ready for the day he left the Planetower and headed toward Lowee. As he walked up to the basilicom doors, he could hear yelling from inside. As he opened the door he saw the three CPUs of Lowee running around, the elder chasing and yelling at the younger two. The three stopped in place once they noticed the open door. "Hey, girls. I'm back." Desmond said as he let the door close behind him.

"Big brother!" the two candidates shouted as they ran toward the young man, hugging him as a few tears fell from their eyes.

"We missed you…" Rom stated.

"Yeah, what took you so long Desmond?!" Ram questioned.

"You know… just saving the day." He gave a small chuckle. "I missed you both as well."

Blanc walked up to the three and gave a small bow "Welcome back Desmond. We can't thank you enough for what you did."

"Well, I couldn't let that old hag destroy my new home." He responded, "Where's Mina?"

"She left. She felt like she wasn't fit to be Oracle after everything that happened. Seeing these two kidnapped really didn't sit well with her. She felt like she could have done more. Now she's trying to better her abilities in all parts of her life." Blanc answered.

"What? Really? Wow… Didn't expect that. Hey girls wanna go play something?" He asked.

"Yes!" the two candidates shouted as they ran off.

Desmond started following them "Running the nation and trying to keep these two under watch. You must be exhausted. Go rest, I'll watch them for a little while."

"Thank you." Blanc responded before walking away.

* * *

After spending the rest of the day in Lowee, Desmond left for Lastation the next morning. As he arrived at the basilicom, he walked into the elevator and pushed the button to go up. After the door opened he walked through the hallways, heading for Noire's office. On his way he heard someone call his name. He turned around just in time to see a ravenhaired girl embrace him, before she moved back. "Hey, Uni. How is everything?"

"It's been going rather well. After everything calmed down, it's been nice. Also, sis and I have been going out on quests together more often as well. I think she's entrusting more to me." She stated with a smile.

"That's good. I'm sure you've gotten stronger after all this time as well. And remember to keep getting better, even if it's to be even better than your sister." He responded.

"Yes, I remember. But for now, being as good as sis will be the first mark." She said.

"Okay. Have you gotten any new guns lately?" he asked.

"A few, a pistol and two rifles." She answered with a smile. She looked at a clock on the wall "Oh, I got to get back to work. Are you staying long?"

"Probably for the day, I'll come by and check on those guns later. I'll let you go work now." He responded.

"Okay. See ya!" Uni said as she walked off.

Desmond then walked the rest of the way to Noire's office. He knocked on the door. "Come in." he heard and entered. He saw Noire siting at her desk, putting pen to paper. "Do you have more papers U-" she started before looking at the young man. Her pen fell on the desk and she stood as she stared at him. She started to tear up before running up to him and tightly hugging him. She then began to sob into his shoulder.

He returned the embrace, a couple of minutes later "Looks like someone missed their friend~" he teased.

She lifted her head up and looked at him with a blank look for a couple of seconds before her face turned red. "W-W-What do you mean!? What's wrong with greeting someone you thought was dead." She turned away.

"Come on, you know I'm messing with you. No need to go tsun on me." The young man said with a small chuckle.

"If you're here just to bother me, go ahead and leave." Noire said as she crossed her arms and sat down in her chair.

"I know that's not how you feel." He walked over to her desk and moved papers aside and placed them into folders "Let's do something fun. I'm here and you've most likely been working way too much… like usual."

"Ugh, fine. What do you want to do then?" She asked.

* * *

The next morning Desmond took his leave and moved toward Leanbox. After arriving in the main city, he entered the basilicom. The first he came across was Chika "Hello, Desmond. I suppose I should thank you for standing in place, for my dear Vert, against the Deity."

"It's good to see you again as well Chika. I'm was on my way to see Vert." The young man responded.

"I don't think so. I'll let Vert know you're alive, so you can le…" She started before turning around and seeing him no longer there.

Arriving at Vert's door, the young man knocked. No response came. Again, he knocked, still nothing. He started to hear Vert speak, letting out a small sigh he walked in. Seeing Vert at her computer with a headset around her ears. "Knew it." He muttered.

He then walked next to her and turned off one of the monitors. Vert stopped and took off her headphones before turning to look at him. "It's wonderful to see you again, Desmond. Thanks to you I was able to get to my backlog of games without delay." She said with a smile.

"I can't say I'm surprised at all. Well as long as Leanbox is doing well it doesn't matter." He stated.

"Let me give you my thanks." Vert said as she stood, as she pulled the young man into an embrace. Bringing his head down to her chest.

After a couple of moments, he was able to pry himself free "Could… you… not." He responded with a small dusting of red across his face.

Vert just giggled as she sat back down in her chair. "I am currently busy. But after I'm done, we can play some games together if you wish."

"Yeah, that sounds fine." He responded as he sat on a nearby couch.

* * *

The next morning Desmond left to go back to Planeptune. He and IF had planned to do some quests once he got back to spend sometime together. On the way back, Desmond received a phone call. Seeing that it was from IF he answered. "Hey, sweetie. I'm on my way back."

"Okay. I'm walking through Virtua Forest; the guild had a post saying that there were dragon sightings around the forest. So, I came out here for a little recon, but I haven't seen anything to suggest that any have been around here." IF stated.

"Alright, where in the forest are you?" he questioned.

"I'm not too far from the entrance, I'm about to le… Agh!" IF started before she felt herself thrown into a tree, as a loud roar came with it.

"IF… IF!" Desmond yelled, almost dropping his phone. He then bolted toward the forest.

As he arrived at the forest, it wasn't long before he could see a trail of destruction. As he caught up, he saw IF struggling to stand. She held a hand on her right leg as she fell to the ground, as blood flowed from a moderate sized wound. The dragon started to charge at IF, before having several shots hit the creature. It turned around and roared at the man, shortly before throwing a large amount of fire from its mouth.

Right before the dragon turned back toward IF, the fire started to converge on one point. A ball of flame floated above Desmond's hand, he moved the ball to his body, absorbing it. A torrent of flames coated his body as claws of fire formed on his hands and feet. Also flaming wings formed on his back. He let out an angry growl as he ran toward the monster. The dragon swiped at the young man. He jumped over the attack, counterattacking by hitting the dragon's wings, rendering them useless. The creature cried out as it tried to turn itself around to hit Desmond. It was too slow, Desmond cut the arms from the monster and stood in front of it. Desmond stood in a slight bent position, Staring at the dragon with nothing but hatred. The creature hesitated, then stared to charge a breath attack. But before it could attack, it's head was severed from its body.

Desmond yelled into the air, as fire shot upward. He than laid his eyes on IF, the flames incasing his body suddenly disappeared. Tears started to come down his face "I made it in time…" he muttered. He moved next to IF, hugging her tightly. "You idiot, you should have waited for me."

"It's… not my fault it came out of nowhere." She responded.

Desmond looked at her leg "What happened?"

"When it ambushed me, it hit me into a tree. And when I hit it… I hit a broken branch." She answered. "Hurts like a bitch, but it'll heal."

"I'm gonna need to cauterize the wound, you really need to stop getting yourself into these situations." He said.

"It's not like it's by my choice that I'm letting myself get this hurt. Ow." She stated before a spike of pain came from her leg.

"Don't get so riled up. You need to stay still." Desmond was about to start, until a large crash came from nearby. Accompanied with a loud roar and the forest filled with fire. "Crap, a second one. How many were there supposed to be."

"It was never specified." She answered.

"Great…" he looked around and a thought came to mind. "IF, focus on your fire magic. To the point where you are about to use it."

"Why?" she asked with a puzzled look.

"Just do it, I have an idea. So, I'd like to see if it works." He responded. A small red pebble came out of his hand. "Put this near your chest as you focus."

She took it without questioning, knowing she'd get the same response. She held it close and began to concentrate. The stone began to glow "What do you want me to d…" she started before getting cut off with a kiss. The pebble disappeared into IF, as a bright light enveloped the two. IF's appearance changed, her hair changed to blonde, while her clothing changed to a mainly black and red scheme with some yellow. And her eyes changed from green to red.

"Hmm… Looks like it worked. I got to say, you look good as a blonde." Desmond stated.

"Huh, what do you mean…" she asked before some of her bangs fell in front of her eyes. "What… What did you do?"

"I think an explanation can be saved for later. First you need to stop anymore bleeding from your leg. Just concentrate on that area and it should start to work." He responded.

As she focused the energy on her leg, the bleeding effectively stopped. "Now, we need to get rid of the fire around here. You should be able to manipulate the fire now. Pull the fire to you, your body should absorb it." Desmond instructed.

"What!? You want me to absorb the fire?" IF questioned.

"You'll be fine, it'll be like when I do it. You should also be able to gain some power from it." He stated.

She concentrated and pulled some of the nearby fire toward her. The flames reached her arm and continued to flow around her body. As the fire dissipated, she felt her body grow lighter as the fatigue left. "Wow, this is crazy." IF muttered.

As the two cleared the immediate area of fire, they followed the direction the dragon set off in. Once they caught up to the dragon, they found it throwing fire on nearby trees. Desmond summoned one of his beam sabers before IF stopped him. "Let me take care of this one. If you're gonna give me this power, I might as well use it."

"Go ahead. I'm not going to try to stop you." He responded.

IF walked forward summoning her katars, as Desmond fired a few shots at the dragon to keep it from throwing anymore fire onto the landscape. IF wrapped fire around her weapons and dashed toward the monster. As she neared it she dodged an attack from the dragon, as she then released a flurry of attacks at the creature. She moved behind the creature and used a controlled explosion that flung the dragon upward. IF then jumped up to it as she slashed the monster in a diagonal motion with both blades. After landing on the ground, several explosions went off around the dragon. As the body of the creature crashed into the ground, it tried to move. Its wings were torn beyond recognition and several large lacerations covered its body. IF walked over to it cut it's head off, as it soon turned into data and disappeared.

Desmond grabbed his girlfriend and pulled her into a hug "Haha! That was awesome sweetie! I wish I would've thought about something like this before now."

"H-Hey, careful. Don't hug so tightly." IF said squirming a little.

Desmond let go of the brunette as he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry about that. I got a little carried away, you were just so cool out there."

A small dusting of red filled IF cheeks "W-Well, I guess it's fine then."

"No need to feel embarrassed. And as much as I like the new look, you probably should revert back." Desmond stated.

IF changed back to her normal self "How did you cause this to happen anyways?"

"Well, hmm. I used my natural fire power and infused a little bit of share energy into it. But that was mainly for it to maintain that pebble form. The power mostly stems from nature energy. But with that said, my theory was that with my power and the infusion of the share energy, it would allow a normal human to transform. Even if it was only for one time, but I would like to see if you could change into it again before we leave."

"I guess I could try." IF again focused the energy in her body again. Suddenly a large flash exploded from around her, as she awakened the power from in her body once more. "I-I did it… that's cool." She then reverted back.

"Awesome, so it's not a one-shot wonder. Good to know." Desmond stated. "I guess we should head back now and grab some more quests. You look more than good enough to fight it out a little longer."

"Sounds good to me, let's go." IF responded as the two walked off.

* * *

A few days later, Desmond walked into the living room after working some quests. "Hey, buster!" Neptune shouted as she stood from the couch. "How come ever since you got back we hardly hang out? All you've been doing is work."

"That's because work needs to be done when you run a nation. And you've just been playing around. Leaving Histoire, Gear, and I to pick up the slack. But, I guess I could take the rest of the day off.

"Yippie!" She jumped up and pulled him to the couch. "First on todays to do list, is games!" she shouted with joy.

"Okay, what do you want to play?" Desmond asked.

"Hmmm. How about some good ol' kart racing?" she answered.

"Sounds good to me." Desmond picked up a controller as Neptune started up the game.

An hour and many games later, the two were close in wins, until the final tie breaker. "Eat my dust and I win!" Neptune cheered as she held her fingers in a V formation.

"I wouldn't get too excited if I were you…" Desmond stated before grabbing and tickling her.

"Hahahahaha, stop! Stop! No fair, haha, you know my sides are super ticklish!" She cried out between laughs.

After stopping he placed her back on the couch and stood up. "Let's go for a walk. It's been a while since we've done that." He said as he walked toward the door.

"Ooo, that sounds fun." Neptune commented as she stood and followed the young man.

After the two made their way to the streets of Planeptune, they walked to a near by park. As the walked Neptune let out a little giggle. "What's funny?" Desmond asked.

"I was just thinking about the last time we were here. A lot has happened since then. I'm just glad that everything ended up going well, ya'know." She clung to his arm "I know ever since everything started it's been hard on everyone. But, I think it was necessary. Nep Jr. has grown up so much since we left. Before she'd come to me for any little thing that would bother her. But now, she's tackling world saving problems. She's gained so many new friends to help her. And she's taking on so much of the CPU work… All I do on a typical day, is play games and hang around the basilicom. And most of the time I work, Histy or you force me to do it…" she said, sounding a little dejected. "Maybe… Maybe Nepgear would be better as CPU… What do you think?" She asked as she looked up.

He looked at her with a serious face she hadn't seen since the battle against the DOS. "Don't you dare think that you are a poor CPU." His face softened a bit. "I mean, sure you slack off and don't work most of the time. And when you get out of the basilicom you usually either go somewhere else to play games or it's for a pudding run. But Gear isn't ready yet to actually run this place by herself. She still needs you more than you might think. You also a natural leader, confidence pours from your entire being. Even in the most dire of times, you still find a silver lining in it. I wouldn't want to see anyone other than you run this place." He gave her a hug, tears started to form as she returned the embrace with a smile.

"Thank you Dez." She looked at his face "You really are the best."

"I try." He said with a chuckle.

The two let the other go, as Neptune turned around "Onward to the pudding!"

After the two stopped at a nearby pudding shop, the walked back to the park and sat at a bench. "Hey, let me have a bite of your pudding." Neptune stated.

"Well, knowing you, you'd try anyway. Here." He took a small amount on the spoon and she ate it.

"Ah ha. That's sooo good. Chocolate is great. Now it's your turn, open wide." She said holding her spoon up to the young man. "So, what do ya' think?"

"The milk pudding isn't too bad." He responded.

She leaned onto his shoulder. "It's nice how peaceful this is." She finished off her pudding and placed the empty cup next to her. "I wanna stay like this for a little longer." She said as she closed her eyes and the breeze lightly blew around them "I love you Dez."

"I love you too. It really is nice to take a breather every now and again." He responded with a smile as he placed an arm around her. The two sat there for a while longer before heading back to the basilicom.

* * *

A few month later, Desmond was walking back to the guild after finishing quests in the morning. On the way there, he received a call from Histoire asking for him to meet with him as soon as he could. He stated that he had to stop by the guild, but would soon be in. She also asked him to bring Neptune with him.

After arriving back at the basilicom, Desmond with Neptune walked to the Sharicite room where Histoire was at. As the two entered the room the book fairy greeted them "Hello you two."

"What's the emergency Histoire?" Desmond asked.

"Yeah, Histy? Where's the fire?" the purple haired CPU questioned.

"Well… I'm not sure how to say this. I guess I'll just show you. Come over here." She said as a girl walked to the middle of the room with them. She stood taller than Neptune, but shorter than Nepgear. Her hair came down to her shoulders and it was dark purple in color, except closer at the ends which held a small red tint to it. She wore a white t-shirt with a dark purple jacket, black shorts and wore dark red fingerless gloves. Her eyes were purple, as she darted them between the three others in the room. "H-Hello." She said timidly.

"Umm, Hi. Who is this Histoire?" Desmond asked.

"Ooo, she's cute. Where did she come from? Is she lost?" Neptune questioned.

"After some extensive research, she appears to be a CPU created from the people." The tome started.

"What!? Another CPU, hmm. That's pretty cool. Oh, where are my manners. My name is Neptune, the protag of protags." She let out a giggle as she finished speaking.

"So, how is this going to work then Histoire? Is she a candidate on level with Gear, or possible lower in rank?"

"Well, I suppose she would be ranked lower, but that would deal with what I shall tell you next." Catching the attention of the two. "Again, after research I have concluded that she is your daughter."

"Wait, what? What!? B-But how is that possible!? Well, I mean I'm not opposed to having a daughter. But it's a bit shocking coming out of nowhere." Neptune exclaimed.

Desmond stood silent for a moment "A-Are you sure Histoire? You didn't make a mistake?"

"No, it appears the people wished for a CPU to be created that was part you and part Neptune. Thus, she was created to be the daughter for you two. You should have felt a disturbance, she was connected to your sharicite along with Planeptune's." Histoire stated. "Apparently, through the many outings you two go on through the city. Many of the citizens quite liked the idea of you two together and wished for you two to have a kid."

"What is with the people wanting everyone else to be taller than me? I mean what kind of joke are they trying to get at?" Neptune questioned aloud.

"Well, I did feel something. Just thought it was heart burn or something. So, this is happening huh." He said.

"You are taking this rather calmly." Histoire commented.

"Just on the outside. Inside, my mind is racing. Thankfully I'm good at hiding it." He let out a small chuckle "It definitely is a lot to take in at once. What is her name?"

"She doesn't have one. I thought it would be more suitable for you two to give one to her." The tome answered.

"So, what do you think?" Neptune asked as the girl looked at them with slight anticipation.

After a couple of moments, he gave an answer "How about Samantha?" he looked at both Neptune and the young girl. The girl smiled at the name.

"Hmmm, I think it should start with Nep, but I'm not sure what would go after that. So, I guess Samantha is fine. Whatcha think Sam?" Neptune asked.

She looked at the two "Samantha… That's my name… Okay." She started to smile "Thank you mom, dad."

"O boy, that's going to take some time to get used to." Neptune stated.

"No joke honey." Desmond added placing a hand on her head "Now, the problem is revealing her to everyone."

"I don't see a problem, just group up everyone and we'll let them know." Neptune commented.

"Well, not problem. More of a pain, specifically with Vert." he stated.

"Oh, yeah… that kinda makes sense." Neptune responded while rubbing the back of her head. "I guess we should introduce Sam to Nep Jr."

"Who's that?" Samantha asked.

"She is your aunt, and Neptune's little sister." Desmond answered as the three exited the room with the tome fairy following behind.

* * *

As the group entered the living room Neptune left to grab Nepgear from her room. As the two sisters walked into the room Neptune jumped in front of her younger sister. "Now, for the big surprise…" She then gestured toward a new face, sitting on the couch next to Desmond "I would like to introduce you to Samantha, or Sam."

Samantha stood and walked to the two purple haired girls. "So, you are Nepgear."

"Hello, nice to meet you. Are you a friend of my sister?" Nepgear asked.

"Actually, she's your niece." Desmond stated.

Nepgear stood there for a few moments in silence "Uhh, pudding to Nepgear. Hey, Nep Jr. ya there?" Neptune said while waving a hand in front of her.

"W-W-What the goodness!? H-How do you have a kid!? And when, but she's to old for…" Nepgear exclaimed in shock.

"Calm down, Nepgear and I'll explain." Histoire interrupted, causing the girl to stop.

After the tome explained the situation, Nepgear took a breath and appeared to have completely calmed down. "I'm sorry about the outburst, the news just took me by surprise Samantha. I hope that we get along."

"I hope we do too, aunt Nepgear." Sam responded.

"Now I think we should pl…" Neptune started before getting interrupted.

"Hey! We're here!" IF could be heard calling out as her and Compa opened the door. After a few moments the saw everyone "Oh, everyone's here. Who's the new girl?"

"She's the daughter of Dez and I." Neptune exclaimed without hesitation.

"Quit messing around Nep. Histoire who is she?" IF asked again.

"She is as Neptune says." The tome fairy answered.

"B-But, if she really is their daughter that means they would've had to…" IF's face grew red "But, there's no way it could've been like that. She's too old clearly…" she rambled on lost in her thoughts before getting interrupted.

"She is a CPU created by the people. They apparently wanted for Neptune and I to have a daughter. So, she was born." Desmond stated. "Don't think too hard about it. IF, meet Samantha. Samantha, IF. IF is also my girlfriend."

"O-Oh, okay. Well, nice to meet you." IF said.

"So, if you are dad's other girlfriend… Would that also make you my mom?" Samantha questioned.

Everyone froze, not expecting a question like that to pop up.

"How about we go to the kitchen and get something to eat. Samantha hasn't eaten yet." Histoire spoke up to take focus of the question and the rest agreed.

* * *

 **I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, sorry for a shorter than usual one. But I did want to get something out after all this time. I would not call what flame mode he used against the dragon to be a new mode, just a magic enhancement. Just conformation if anyone was wondering. leave a review and let me know what you think. And as always have a great day.  
**


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